Code of the Living Dead
by dying english
Summary: The survivors of Kadic Academy have mobilized and are fleeing the dangers of the city for the safety of Herbs uncles home in the country. While fighting for their lives Ulrich learns something horrible about their enemies and decides to leave the group in search of answers. FINALLY! NEW CHAPTER! OH MY GOD! Rated M for blood, gore, zombies and bad stuff. Don't forget to review!
1. Prologue of the Living Dead

Scenario 0: Prologue of the Living Dead

Ulrich slumped against the wall next to the door that led up to the roof and sighed. His adrenaline had worn off and the events that had transpired in the past five hours were starting to take their toll on him. He slid down the wall into a sitting position on the floor trying to ignore the charlie horse that was throbbing in his left leg. He glanced down at his body and felt his stomach lurch. He was covered in dried blood and gore, so much of it he wondered if it would ever come out of his clothes. If it would ever wash off of his hands. The blood that belonged to those things that used to be his classmates. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and stared at the screen intently as if by sheer force of will he could make Yumi call him and tell him that she was alive. That she was okay. That she was a thousand miles away from this whole mess. After a moment or two of silence he flipped the phone back shut and rammed it into his pocket in frustration. He had never felt so useless in his life. Ulrich had no idea what was going on or what he could do to fix it. Two months ago he could have just said "X.A.N.A" and he and his friends would stop him and save the day. But X.A.N.A. was gone now. Nothing but a bad memory.

Ulrich reached into the waistband of his jeans, drew out the revolver he had gotten from the dead police officer and held it in his hands. Herve had showed him how to use it earlier; how to fire and reload but Ulrich was still getting used to it, preferring to use a baseball bat. He turned the revolver over in his hands and opened up the cylinder. Out of the six bullets in the cylinder two of the bullets had detonated "primers" as Herb had called them meaning they had been fired. Ulrich slid the two spent casings out of the revolver and tossed them aside. He then dug out two fresh bullets from the right breast pocket of his army jacket and slid them into the revolver before closing it with a flick of his wrist. The gun was enough to kill one of those things with a single well placed shot but it took forever to reload as demonstrated by its previous owner. Ulrich tucked the revolver back into his waistband and pulled himself up to a standing position, wincing from the pain in his leg. He pulled open the door to the roof and walked up the stairs. When he reached the summit he pushed the heavy steel door open and was greeted by the late morning sun.

The roof was the first place they attempted to run. In hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea because now they were stuck, the courtyard of Kadic swarming with those things and there was no telling how many were still in the building. Sitting in the middle of the roof were the students that escaped the slaughter in the cafeteria. Himself, Odd Della Robbia, Samantha Knight, Jeremie Belpois, Aelita Stones AKA Aelita Schaefer, Sissi Delmas, Herve Pichon, Nicholas Poliakoff, Emilie LeDuc, Emmanuel Maillard and Caroline Savorani were all on the roof of the junior high school classroom building. These were all that made it out alive. If they weren't up here then they were down there and if they were down there…

Ulrich walked across the rooftop, his feet crunching on the gravel as he moved towards the group of students. Odd looked up at him smiled lightly. He was sitting next to Jeremie and who was fiddling with the radio they had gotten from a classroom trying to find a signal with Sam sitting next to him trying to get a hold of anyone on her cell phone. Ulrich could tell by the look on her face she was having as much luck as everyone else.

"Any luck?" Ulrich asked as he came up to the group.

"Yeah the U.S. Government just deployed Chuck Norris with a slingshot. We should be in the clear." Odd said.

Ulrich wasn't in the mood for Odd's wise cracks. In the span of four hours their lives had been utterly destroyed. They were all huddled around the radio, hoping for some kind of report saying that they were in the clear, that the army was being deployed and that the whole situation would be dealt with by lunch and that everything they had witnessed would be a dark chapter in the history books in a few years. Ulrich hoped this would happen but deep down, something was telling him that nothing would ever be the same again. By the ledge of the roof he spotted Tina. She had her back to them and was gazing in the distance, her arms folded across her chest and she was biting the nails on her left hand. Ulrich trudged over to her stood next to her. She was his age but short, about Odd's height without his shoes and tall hair. She wore denim jeans, a black tank top, brown cowboy boots and a red bandana over her long blonde hair. Ulrich said nothing and followed her gaze. In the distance he could see jet black smoke rising in the sky. He could hear the subtle sound of automatic weapons fire under the drone of sirens and the screams of the dying and the moans of the dead.

"I'm sure your families fine." Ulrich said softly. "Your father's army right?"

"I'm not holding any hope." She said just as softly. "My brother always told me not to live on false hopes. Expect the worst so you can deal with it easier."

"That sounds pretty bleak." Ulrich said.

"I can't spend my time worrying about them." Tina said more to herself than Ulrich. "They are probably dead. All of them. I need to worry about myself if I'm going to survive."

She blinked and looked over at Ulrich smiling softly.

"How's the radio coming along?" She asked.

Ulrich shrugged and looked over to Jeremie.

"It probably won't work." Ulrich said softly.

"Probably." She smiled weakly.

Ulrich sighed and trudged across the roof to his friends.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked Jeremie.

"I dunno." Jeremie said. "I'm not even picking up an EBS so I don't think it is the radio stations themselves. Probably just the radio."

"Because someone, I don't want to point out names or anything Emmanuel, decided to use the radio as a bludgeon against Gaston." Herve said shooting Emmanuel a dirty look.

"Hey don't blame me!" The pony tailed metal head said in defense. "That bastard was going for my throat and I didn't see you guys scrambling to do anything about it!"

"So you use our only possible life line to the outside world to smash in his skull?" Herve snapped.

"Fuck you pizza face!"

"Shut up!" Jeremie said suddenly.

They immediately stopped arguing as Jeremie held the radio up to his ear and gently adjusted the dials. They could all faintly hear speaking through the speakers but the signal was weak and laced with static.

"Turn it up!" Samantha said leaning forward.

Jeremie nodded and turned the volume up.

"For -ose….. It… twelve….. acts of violence…. Paris. "

Jeremie slightly turned the knob a little to the left and it cleared up significantly.

"What was originally thought to be a riot started in the downtown metropolitan area but now has spread like a wildfire of mass hysteria all over the city. Eye witness reports have been flooding our studios since the incident started and we have been told that by some that their attackers seemed to be in a trance-like state, unresponsive to anything their victim had to say. Other reports have described the attackers to be ferocious and almost feral in nature, attacking with rabid ferocity. In the past hour we have received similar reports from all over the country. The GIGN have been deployed and- one moment."

There was a silence followed by the rustling of paper.

"… Are you serious?" The anchor woman said. "This is- this- is this some kind of sick joke? …. Uhm, I'm sorry. I have just received this report from the Center for Disease Control. I'm having a little trouble reading this. It has been confirmed that… that the bodies of the recently deceased are coming to life and… and attacking the living. This- this is an incredible! How or why something like this could happen is beyond my knowledge but this is not a joke. I repeat, the bodies of the recently-"

Jeremie turned the radio off and looked up at his friends, his face as pale as those walking corpses below.

"Told you." Nicholas said softly.


	2. Life as you know it

Scenario 1: Life as you know it.

-the day before infection-

It was Friday afternoon. Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie and Aelita stood in line in the cafeteria waiting for their food. Ulrich was holding a notebook with a dark green cover and muttering obscenities under his breath. Odd had his hands dug into the pockets of his hoodie and was watching the large pot that Rosa was spooning portions of meatballs and gravy out of with a glimmer in his eye.

"I would still like to know why the hell they decided to teach theoretical physics to 8th graders…" Ulrich said through gritted teeth.

"Because they hate joy." Odd said simply still eyeballing the pot.

"I take it you guys are having trouble studying for Ms. Hertz test next week?" Aelita asked.

"Does the pope crap in the woods?" Odd asked.

"Does the pope have trouble finding toilet paper in the woods?" Ulrich asked.

"Probably." Aelita laughed.

"It really isn't that hard guys." Jeremie said accepting his tray from Rosa. "What part specifically are you having trouble with? The laws of black hole thermodynamics or the subject matter detailing condensed matter physics?"

Odd and Ulrich stared at Jeremie blankly as Aelita giggled behind her hand.

"Er, never mind." Jeremie said Ulrich and Odd moved up in line to get their food.

"Ah Rosa!" Odd said dreamily.

Rosa was the cafeteria's heavy set lunch lady. She was older, wore glasses and had sort brown puffy hair. This was a daily game for Odd who was nicknamed "the garbage disposal" for a reason. He'd often sweet talk Rosa or charm her in some way into giving him extra food and it usually worked if he caught her in the right mood.

"Your eyes, shine like the brightest of all the cosmic lights, and burn with the passion of a thousand suns." Odd said reciting a poem he had written just last period. "Your skin, as pale and smooth as porcelain, threatening to crack if I dare to touch. Your lips, a loving whisperer of sweet secrets in my ear, of things as sweet and delectable as yourself. I long to stroke your flowing hair and-"

"For the love of god!" Ulrich exclaimed in disgust. "Just give him an extra desert, please!"

Rosa simply smiled and blushed a little, putting an extra slice of chocolate cake on Odd's tray.

"That was very sweet Odd." She said.

"You're a saint and a scholar my fair lady." Odd said picking up his tray.

"You're a whore." Ulrich said as they joined Jeremie and Aelita at their table.

"A whore with cake." Odd corrected.

"Anyway Ulrich," Jeremie said. "The most crucial element in passing tests is to take careful and detailed notes."

"What are you talking about? You never take notes." Ulrich said confused.

"Yes well, I have eidetic memory." Jeremie said sipping his drink. "It would be silly for me to take notes."

"Right." Ulrich said.

"Eidetic memory means he has perfect recall of everything he has ever seen." Aelita explained.

"I knew that!" Ulrich said defensively.

"Just checking." She grinned.

"Here let me see your notebook. Maybe I can tell what your doing wrong." Jeremie offered.

Ulrich slid his notebook over to Jeremie who picked it up and flipped through it.

"….Ulrich?"

"Yeah?"

"This is blank."

"It's hard to keep up okay? Ms. Hertz goes a mile a minute and her chicken scratch handwriting doesn't help either."

Jeremie sighed and Aelita shook her head.

"Hey guys." Yumi said walking up to them.

She and Sam sat down at the table; Sam next to Odd and Yumi in between Jeremie and Ulrich.

"What took you guys so long?" Ulrich asked as Sam planted a kiss on Odd's check.

"Mrs. Meyer kept us a little longer with some last minute details about her test." Yumi said.

"Yeah." Sam said through a mouth of food. "I don't see why she even bothers. She doesn't teach us anything. She just reads off of the power point and calls it even. Doesn't explain or expand on what she's teaching and when we ask her a question she's all-"

"Look it up in the book." she and Yumi said together.

"Why would someone go through the trouble of getting a masters degree in a subject to become a teacher at a fancy boarding school and then not do your job?" Ulrich wondered aloud.

"Because they hate joy." Odd said his cheeks bulging with food.

"So what do you guys feel like doing this weekend?" Aelita asked.

"We can go to Lucy's." Sam said. "Slaphands is playing there this weekend!"

Lucy's was a hole in the wall club where a lot of local bands played, specifically punk and indie rock and with the occasional Goth band.

"Who else is playing?" Odd asked.

"Your Toxic Love Affair is headlining and then there's Slaphands, The Valley Sheep, The Revenants and Bite me." Samantha said counting off the bands.

"Not a bad line up." Odd commented.

"That could be cool. I haven't heard The Valley Sheep play in forever." Yumi commented.

"Yeah!" Aelita exclaimed.

Since the fall of X.A.N.A. Aelita's love for music had grown. She had brushed up on her piano skills and was learning how to play the guitar from Odd.

"Oh I hope they play-"

Aelita was cut off by a sudden scream across the cafeteria. The years the Lyoko group had spent fighting X.A.N.A. had sharpened their reflexes like that of a seasoned warrior which in their own right they were. Everyone at he table save for Sam was up on their feet the second the scream hit their ears. Across the cafeteria a fellow classmate by the name of Paul Gaillard was vomiting all over another classmate name Sophie Florenceau who was screaming as she was being coated in green slime. The students she was sitting with had slid back away from the table in unison to avoid the line of fire.

"Help me!" Sophia cried.

"Holy hell!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Aw man." Odd said grimacing.

"Weak." Sam said.

From the teacher's table a few rows down Kadic's P.E. teacher Jim sprang into action. He dashed over to Sophia and pulled her out of the way, handing her to Ms. Hertz who had followed him. He then rushed to Paul who had slipped on his own fluids and was laying on his back and twitching violently.

"Call Yolande!" Jim roared to the nearest teacher.

Gilles Fumet the social studies teacher rose to his feet, his face appalled at what he had just seen. He exited the cafeteria while Jim held Paul's head to the side so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit.

"It burns!" Sophia sobbed rubbing her eyes, still sobbing from the incident.

"Come on dear." Ms. Hertz said gently. "Let's get you cleaned up."

They left the cafeteria, Sophia sobbing all the way.

"Everyone get to class now!" Jim snapped. "Show's over get outta here!"

Milly and Tamia had been standing there with their camera but when Jim barked at them like that they scampered away. Everyone left their trays behind and filed out of the cafeteria.

"What the hell happened back there?" Odd wondered as they all walked down the hall. "He went full on exorcist in there!"

"Oh I feel so bad for Sophia." Aelita said awestruck.

"What do you think made Paul sick like that?" Jeremie asked.

"Something he ate?" Ulrich asked.

"I hope not!" Odd said his face paling. "I mean, the meatballs smelled okay…"

"That was way too violent to be something like food poisoning." Sam pointed out. "I've seen people drink bong water and not react like that."

"It may be a bug…" Yumi said. "My mom was feeling a little off this morning."

Unable to come up with an acceptable answer the group split up and went their separate ways. By the time dinner had rolled around half a dozen more cases of what Milly and Tamia dubbed "the gray flu" had broken out in the junior high grades alone. Later that night Ulrich was sitting on his bed in his night clothes texting Yumi to check on her.

"Aw man. Someone posted a video of Paul's money shot on you tube."

"Mhm." Ulrich said not looking up from his phone.

"Man it's bad enough to get slimed by Paul but now she has to burn forever in internet hell."

"Mhm." Ulrich said still not looking up.

Odd sighed and glanced over at Ulrich who was slowly typing out a message, mouthing the words to himself.

"Dear Yumi," Odd said in a stupid voice. "I would really really like to get with you and do things to you that hentai squid monsters think is gross. Love Ulrich. Dictated not read."

Ulrich gave Odd the finger still not looking up at him.

"Why don't you just tell her man?" Odd asked as he plopped down on his own bed.

"Tell her what?" Ulrich asked flipping his phone shut.

In the two month span since they defeated X.A.N.A. Jeremie and Aelita had started dating, not that any one was shocked by it. Sam had enrolled at Kadic a little less than a month after X.A.N.A.'s defeat and though it was a little awkward for the two of them at first, Odd and Sam worked things out and were now a couple themselves. Yumi and Ulrich on the other hand were still in some kind of relationship limbo. Yumi had made it clear before that she preferred it if her and Ulrich could just be good friends which Ulrich respected. But deep down both of them knew that they couldn't just ignore the mutual attraction they had for each other.

"You know damn well what." Odd said. "I mean, it was funny and kind of cute at first but now its just sad to watch."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ulrich grumbled.

"You're lying to yourself Ulrich." Odd said. "You're lying to yourself and Yumi everyday that goes by and you don't tell her how you feel."

"She's the one that decided to just be good friends. Not me." Ulrich spat.

"Do you really believe that?" Odd asked. "Both of you make doe eyes at each other when the other isn't looking and frankly, its getting a little creepy."

"Good night Odd." Ulrich growled.

With that he rolled over and went to sleep.

"Whatever." Odd said laying down. "Do what you like."

A few minutes later Odd was asleep and Ulrich was staring at the ceiling unable to sleep though for once it wasn't Odd's snoring. Ulrich knew Odd was right. He loved Yumi and had for so long it felt like an eternity, everyday being a struggle with his emotions. Some times he loved being around her, just seeing her smile was enough to make him happy. Other times he couldn't bear to look at her without feeling as if he was being torn apart at the seams. He didn't know what he should do about it. He often thought about what would happen if he came out and told her his feelings. Sometimes he felt that maybe she'd say yes and everything would be fine. This was little more than a fantasy though, he often figured that even if, if she said yes, he half expected that she'd break it off with him. Ulrich didn't know what would hurt worse. Never having her or having her and then loosing her. A few hours passed and eventually Ulrich managed to drift off to sleep, knowing he'd be feeling the effects of fatigue tomorrow.

-Next time-

Dawn of the Dead


	3. Dawn of the Dead

Scenario 2: Dawn of the Dead

_"When there's no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth."_

_George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978)_

Ulrich awoke to the sound of someone banging on his bed room door. His eyes fluttered open and he stared at the dark ceiling above him. Or the wall next to him. He wasn't sure which direction he was facing in the darkness of his bedroom. He sat up and stared at his alarm clock bitterly noting the time was half past five. He got out of bed and stumbled through the darkness of his bedroom, groping at the shadows in front of him. Finally his fingers brushed the cold metal of the door knob. He pulled the door open and was shadowed by a large figure in the doorway.

"Stern." Jim growled. "Wake up Della Robbia and the two of you get your butts down to the cafeteria."

"What? Why?" Ulrich asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"There's been an emergency." Jim replied darkly.

Without another word he walked to the next door and began banging on it.

"Gauthier! Pepin! Get up now!" He barked.

Jim was a bear of a man and not one to scare easily. He was a proud six foot ten and even though he was in his mid forties, he was capable of bench pressing a solid three fifty. Save for the occasional giant teddy bear attack, Jim was hard to rattle but as he pounded on everyone's door to wake them up, Ulrich could clearly see anxiety in the gym teachers eyes. Whatever was happening it was bad, that much was obvious. Ulrich walked back into his room and closed the door behind him. He turned on the lights and crossed over to his bed. He plopped down on the mattress and picked up his cell phone on his bedside table. He scrolled down the contacts and called Yumi's number. It rang a few times before she finally answered, her voice groggy from sleep.

"Hello?" She muttered.

"Yumi?" Ulrich asked. "It's Ulrich."

"I'm aware." She said a little irritated. "What's wrong?"

"Jim's waking everyone up and rounding us into the cafeteria. He said there's an emergency."

"Emergency?" Yumi asked.

She sat up in her bed and ran a hand through her dark hair.

"Like what?"

"I dunno." Ulrich replied. "He was kind of vague. I just wanted to check on you. Have you heard anything?"

"No. I just got back from the hospital-"

She glanced at her clock.

"An hour ago. You should have seen it Ulrich. The waiting room was completely full of people sick with whatever it is that's been going around. Apparently Milly and Tamia's "gray flu" caught on because I heard that's what the doctors were referring to it as."

"I'll bet they'll be pleased." Ulrich mused. "How's your mom by the way?"

"She's fine. The doctors told her what they were telling everyone else; drink a lot of liquids and get plenty of rest. That it's just a really bad strain of the flu."

"I'm sorry. I hope she feels better."

"Me too. Look, I'm going to check on her and then i'll make my way over to the school, see if we can find out what's going on."

"Okay. Just be careful okay? I got a bad feeling about this."

"Ulrich." Yumi laughed. "I would think that after X.A.N.A the most dangerous part of our life is over wouldn't you?"

"I guess." Ulrich said, still unsure. "Just be careful."

"You too."

Ten minutes later Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, Aelita and Sam trudged across the courtyard towards the cafeteria. The sun hadn't risen yet and the grounds were covered in a thick blanket of mist. Odd tilted his head back and let out a long low moan.

"Not a morning person?" Jeremie asked.

"It's too early to be doing _anything_!" Odd complained. "The only redeeming factor in this mess is that it is chocolate chip pancake day!"

"You got any idea what's going on guys?" Ulrich asked Jeremie and Aelita.

Aelita merely shook her head. She was still trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"No. I was trying to do a search on my computer but Jim practically dragged me out of my room before I could." Jeremie replied.

"This is stupid!" A whiny voice said behind them.

None of the kids bothered to waste their energy to glance behind them. They knew who it was merely by the smell of sulfur that wafted past their noses.

"Honestly what is daddy trying to pull? I'm a girl that needs plenty of beauty sleep. Somebody had better be dead!" Sissi snapped as she stormed past the group. She was running a brush through her long raven hair and Herve and Nicholas shambled behind her; Herve struggling under the weight of a large silver hand mirror and Nicholas was carrying a hot pink make up bag.

"There are very few things that I can honestly say that I hate." Sam muttered. "I try to be open minded and see the good in everything but..."

"Yeah yeah." Odd muttered. "Sissi, mean bitch, cold heart, hope she gets cancer. Sammy baby it's too early to start on her now."

They sighed and wandered towards the cafeteria. At the sight of the dark and empty kitchen Odd nearly burst into tears. Instead of the expected tray of steaming hot, chocolatey pancakes covered in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, there was a pitiful plastic tray with mini boxes of frosted flakes and small cartons of milk.

"Oh come on!" Odd whined. "Don't tell me Rosa got sick too? That's the line!"

Sam patted her boyfriend on the shoulder and the group got their sad excuse for a breakfast. They sat down at their preferred table and ate their food in a groggy silence. Ulrich glanced out the window towards the woods which looked horribly creepy in the gray, mist obscured darkness. He looked over to the teacher's table and saw the only people sitting there were Jim, Ms. Hertz, and Mr. Klotz. Jim looked grim, Ms. Hertz appeared worried but composed and Mr. Klotz seemed nervous. After everyone had finished eating Jim rose from the teacher's table and walked to the front of the cafeteria. Ms. Hertz followed him pulling an AV cart supporting an old television on top of it behind her. She plugged it into the wall behind him and turned it on stand by.

"I'm sure you're all wondering just why you were awoken at this early hour." Jim said.

No one said anything. A few students had fallen asleep at their tables but Ulrich and Jeremie were listening intently.

"There has been an emergency. Two hours ago, Fort Alexander, the American military base was attacked by an unknown enemy. There have been several reported casualties and rioting has started in the downtown area around the base."

"Bullshit!" A voice snapped.

A 9th grader by the name of Tina Duff stood up quickly from her seat, knocking it back with a clatter, causing the sleeping students around her to violently jerk awake.

"You're fucking lying!" She shouted.

In that instance all eyes were on her but she didn't care. Most students knew who Tina was and they knew her story. They knew she was an army brat whose family was stationed at Fort Alexander. Jim knew this too which was why he overlooked her outburst.

"I'm sorry Duff. It's the truth."

He turned on the television revealing the local news program. Ms. Hertz gently placed a comforting hand on Tina's shoulder.

"We are reporting live from the devastation seen here at Fort Alexander." The female reporter said staring intently into the camera.

"The exact nature of the incident is unknown and no high ranking official can be reached for comment."

The camera panned out showing the destruction she was referring to. The military base was in ruins. Bodies lay scattered everywhere and Ulrich could see several soldiers in full body armor and gas masks piling bodies onto a great fire. Ulrich had always been interested in military history and often thought of a military career. The footage he saw on the screen immediately banished these fancies from his mind. The carnage he saw on the screen was as close to a war zone as he ever wanted to get.

"It has been said that the use of biological weapons were used but no terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Out of the four hundred and sixty seven soldiers and families living on the base the death toll is estimated between two hundred to two hundred and fifty. Some of the remaining soldiers have teamed up with the police in a cordon and search tactic while the riot squad has been deployed downtown where more reports of violence have been reported. At this time it is impossible to determine where the attacks originally started."

The screen switched from the exterior of Fort Alexander and back to the interior of the news room.

"We'll be following this story as it unfolds." The news anchor said. "The Director of Active Services of the national police service has stated that until further notice, martial law has been declared and that everyone is to remain in their homes until the situation is dealt with. The-"

Jim muted the television.

"So that's it." He said. "Due to his illness Headmaster Delmas isn't able to be here and make decisions leaving me in charge. First off, classes are canceled until further notice."

The cafeteria was silent save for the handful of foolish and selfish children who cheered.

"No one is allowed to leave the dormitories until the crisis at hand is over. You may contact your families but due to martial law no one may come to pick you up. Right now I need volunteers. Some of your classmates are still in the infirmary and we need to round everyone together."

"I'll go!" William said standing up.

"Me too." Ulrich said quickly.

"Same here!" Odd said standing up with Ulrich.

"Anyone else?" Jim asked. "We got almost a dozen students to move. I want more bodies!"

No one else volunteered. Jim sighed.

"Poliakoff! Masters! Girard! Burel! Front and center! Now!" Jim barked.

The boys didn't argue. They stood up and formed around Jim.

"Suzanne." Jim said. "I'm leaving you in charge until we get back."

Ms. Hertz nodded.

"We'll be right back." Odd said to Sam.

She nodded nervously and looked out the window. The sky was turning the lightest shade of pale blue.

"Okay." Jim said opening the door. "Let's go."

The group moved silently through the halls of Kadic Academy's main classroom building. The infirmary, their destination, was on the second floor. Ulrich and Odd walked several steps behind the main party, Ulrich had his cellphone out and was forming out a text to Yumi.

"Hey guys." William said falling in step with the two. "I was wanting to ask you guys, do you think-"

He stole a glance at Jim up ahead.

"You-know-who is behind this?"

"No way." Odd said. "Harry took care of him in the last book. Don't you read?"

"Ha ha." William muttered. "You know what I mean."

Not long ago, William was a member of the Lyoko warriors. On his first mission to Lyoko he was attacked by XANA and, perhaps the biggest fail that no one could ever hear about, placed under his control as his General and was a thorn in their sides ever since. When they managed to finally destroy XANA he was released and since then there was a sort of awkward avoidance between him and the others. He barely spoke to any of them and didn't dare look Yumi, his former crush, in the eye.

"No." Ulrich said putting his phone away. "He's gone and he isn't coming back. Jeremie searched and searched but he couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. Whatever this is it isn't XANA."

"That's good... I guess." William said.

"Stern! Della Robbia! Dunbar! Keep up with the group!" Jim barked ahead of them.

The three boys jogged ahead to the catch up with the group. They went up a flight of stars and eventually found themselves standing in front of the door to the infirmary. The blinds were closed tight with a sign hanging from the door that read "CAUTION: Quarantine".

Jim rapped on the door with his knuckles.

"Yolande!" He called. "We're rounding up all the students. We're waiting out whatever this is in the cafeteria."

No response.

"Yolande!" Jim said louder.

He placed his hand on the door knob and gave it a turn. Seeing it was unlocked he pushed the door open. Inside the infirmary the lights were off and as soon as the door was open, a stench unlike anything they had ever smelled assaulted their noses causing many of them to gag. In the light coming in from the door way, Jim could see a hand laying on the floor. The red nail polish and engagement ring belonging to Yolande, the shadows in the room obscuring the rest of the arm. He could hear a wet smacking sound, almost like chewing.

"Yolande!" Jim cried.

He turned on the light switch and immediately regretted it. The flickering florescent lights revealed that the hand was severed from just below the elbow. The walls of the room were spattered in dried blood, so dark it was almost brown. In the center of the room were what appeared to be the students hunched over the eviscerated corpse of Yolande, tearing away pieces of her almost picked clean remains. Paul Gaillard held Yolande's severed head in his hands, her eyes frozen in fright and her mouth open in mid scream. He leaned towards the head and for a second it looked as if he was going to kiss her. Instead he bit into her lower lip and tore away the flesh that covered her chin. He chewed greedily and smacked his lips like a starving dog.

"Oh my go-" Matthias Burel started to say something but half way through his exclamation he vomited onto the floor in front of him.

One of those _things_ looked up from its meal. The thing that used to be Heidi Klinger looked at the group of horrified people in the doorway and snarled like a wild beast, her blood shot eyes glistening with a deep primal rage.

"Z-Z-zombies!" Nicholas exclaimed.

Faster than any of them could blink, four of the things leapt at them, the remaining ones deciding to stay with it's current meal.

"RUN!" Jim bellowed.

They broke from the door way but Matthias wasn't quick enough. The hands of the things that used to be his classmates dragged him to the ground and they quickly tore into him. As Ulrich and the others ran down the hall they could hear poor Matthias' sobbing cries and the wet ripping of flesh echo behind them.

"Let go of him you stinking son of a bitch!" They heard Jim yell behind them.

"Wait, wait!" Desmond Girard said sliding to a halt. "We need to help them!"

They looked behind them and saw Jim had one of the things pinned to the wall by its throat as Matthias had his right arm and left leg torn off by two of _them._ Six or seven more of those things stumbled out of the infirmary as Matthias' screams faded away with his last breath. Two immediately attacked Jim while the others roared and charged towards the group.

"Fuck that!" Nicholas cried.

The chase was on. The six boys hurled themselves down the hall as fast as they could go. As they ran they could hear their own hearts thundering in their ears in rhythm with the pounding footsteps of the monsters behind them. They could hear the guttural roars of whatever the hell those tings were echo off of the walls. At one point Ulrich could have sworn he felt the tips of one of their fingers brush against his shirt. Finally they reached the staircase. Ulrich and Odd slid down the banister while Nicholas and Terry Masters jumped down the steps. Terry landed and continued running without stopping but Desmond had to help Nicholas to his feet. They ran down the hallway, the doors to the cafeteria just up ahead of them. They burst through the door with a loud bang that was so sudden several students screamed in surprise. Nicholas fell to his knees panting as Ulrich and Odd slammed the doors shut and shoved their weight against it.

"Z-Z-Z-Zombies!" Nicholas screamed.

A/N: Yay. It's finally up. Woot. Next chapter will be up half past eventually.

Full Disclosure: Things I did while writing this chapter.

Read Powerpuff Girls D on

Watch Spaced, Father Ted and Hey Arnold on my laptop.

Play the last stand Union City.


	4. Bloodbath

Scenario 3: Bloodbath

"_And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, And I looked and behold: a pale horse.  
And his name, that sat on him, was Death. And Hell followed with him."_

_ -Johnny Cash "The man comes around" _

The cafeteria was quiet. Ms. Hertz stared at the children in bewilderment as they panted and tried to catch their breath.

"Wh-what?" She asked. "What are you talking about? Where's Jim? Where are the other students?"

"They turned into zombies!" Nicholas exclaimed.

"Z-zombies?" Naomi Nguyen asked a little confused. "Like in Doctor Shenk?"

"More like Transvestite Cannibals from Mars! Brain Junkies from Jersey! Jeffery fucking Dahmer!" Nicholas yelled.

"The boys gone mad!" Mr Klotz exclaimed.

"Ulrich, what on earth is going on?" Ms. Hertz asked desperately.

Ulrich tried to form words but couldn't. He felt as if he were dreaming and he'd be waking up in a few minutes. Maybe he fell asleep in the cafeteria and this was just a bad dream. Maybe he hadn't even woken up yet and he was still in his bed and he would have a laugh telling Odd about it in the morning.

"Ulrich?" Jeremie asked pushing to the front of the cluster of students, Aelita and Sam close behind him. "Odd? What the hell happened?"

"Ulrich? What's on your clothes?" Aelita asked.

"It-It's blood?" Ms. Hertz exclaimed, her hands fluttering to her face in horror.

Ulrich glanced down at his clothes. Spattered across his front was what seemed to be an arterial spray from when Heidi bit into Matthias' throat.

"Must have been from when..." Odd started looking at his own shirt. "Poor Matty."

"Ulrich what happened?" Ms. Hertz asked again.

"The students, the ones who were all sick attacked us. They- they killed Jim and Matthias. Yolande as well." Ulrich said quietly.

"What?" Jeremie cried. "No way! Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Einstein." Odd cracked showing the blood on his own clothes. "Pretty sure."

"That's impossible!" Ms. Hertz said fiercely. "You must have imagined it."

Nicholas scoffed.

"Ms. Hertz with respect I don't know what happened but when we got to the infirmary the students inside attacked us. Yolanda was torn apart and there was blood everywhere." Terry explained.

"It's true!" Desmond said shakily. "We all saw it."

"This can't be!" Mr. Klotz said. "You must have been seeing things! A student wouldn't just attack a teacher like that!"

"No but a zombie would!" Nicholas said rising to his feet. "I'm telling you! That explains why everyone's been getting sick! It's a zombie apocalypse!"

"Don't be stupid Nicholas!" Sissi cried angrily. "There's no such thing!"

"I don't know where you children got the nerve to play a joke like this when we are in the middle of a crisis but I expect Jim, who is very much alive-" She said pointing behind Ulrich. "Will be glad to explain what is going on."

"What?"

Ulrich whipped around and backed away from the door. There, in the window they could all see the dark outline of Jim, his pale face framed in the window on the door like a grisly portrait. Ms. Hertz walked over to the door and placed her hand on the door handle.

"NO!" Nicholas screamed. "NO! DON'T!"

"Really Mr. Poliakoff that's enough!" Ms. Hertz said as she pushed the door open.

It happened in a flash. Jim reached out and grabbed Ms. Hertz by the arm with a snarl. She gasped at the pressure and screamed when he bit into her forearm, red blood spurting from the wound like a geyser.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ms. Hertz screamed as Jim pulled her to the ground and pinned her to the floor.

The class screamed and backed away as Mr. Klotz ran forward and tried to pull Jim off of the science teacher. More of those things appeared in the door way and grabbed him before he could do anything helpful. William grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and slammed it against Jim's face, knocking him off of Ms. Hertz and out of the cafeteria. Ms. Hertz tried to stand up but slipped in her own blood and fell to the ground. Jim grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her from the room. Ulrich ran forward and shoved his weight into the door to stop the monsters from spilling into the cafeteria.

"Help!" He yelled to anyone who would.

Odd ran forward and along with Tina and William, they engaged in a game of tug of war with the zombies outside.

"Ulrich!" Ms. Hertz screamed. "Help me!"

Ulrich looked down and saw her clutching onto the door frame for dear life. Her face was stained in tears and blood and Ulrich could see those things biting into her legs outside. Panic swept through him. He didn't know what to do, how he could possibly begin to help.

"Ulrich!" Tina cried next to him, shoving all ninety pounds of her weight into the other door. "Shut the goddamned door!"

Ulrich looked down at Ms. Hertz and grimaced.

"S-sorry." He stammered.

He closed his eyes and slammed the door close as hard as he could. He heard Ms. Hertz scream in pain as her fingers were severed and she was pulled away by those things outside, deep into the darkness of the hallway away from the cafeteria. Eventually her screams died away but they continued to ring in Ulrich's ears long after wards. The cafeteria was quiet for several nerve wracking seconds until finally someone spoke.

"Holy Shit!" Emmanuel Maillard said. "That was so metal!"

Yumi yawned as she pulled open her closet. She got out her outfit for the day and laid it out on her bed. She took a quick shower in her bathroom before getting dressed and grabbed her phone from her computer desk. She stepped out into the hallway and turned to walk down the stairs but something caught her eye. There, on the wall next to her parents room was a dark red stain. She stood there at the top of the stairs, one hand placed on the banister and one foot hovering in midair.

"Wh-what?" She asked herself.

She stared at the stain. Deep down she had an idea what it was. A horrible idea. She walked towards her parents room and brushed the stain with her finger tips. It was still wet and looked like a smeared hand print.

"B-Blood?" She said quietly.

Quickly she pushed the door to her parents bedroom and stepped inside.

"Mom? Dad?" She screamed desperately.

The room was a wreck. A dresser had been tipped over on its side and the suit of samurai armor that had been in her family for generations had been knocked down and strewn around the room. Her parents bed was covered in blood and it looked like someone had been murdered in it. Suddenly Yumi heard a rasping yell come from down the hall. She grabbed the katana that was lying on the floor of her parents room and ran down the hall to her brothers bedroom.

"Hiroki? Johnny?" She called.

She reached the door and started to open it. She paused as she touched the door knob and felt that it was covered in blood. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a sickening wet tearing sound filled her ears. Holding her breath she pulled open the door. Inside was her parents and her brother. They had their backs to her and were crouched over something, snarling and slurping.

"M-Mom?" She called softly. "Dad?"

They stopped whatever it was they were doing. Their heads jerked up and listened intently.

"Hiroki?" Yumi said stepping into the room.

The three of them turned around and stared at Yumi. They were covered in blood and Yumi could see what it was they were hunched over. Hiroki's friend Johnny who had spent the night at their house last night, lay on the ground, his stomach torn open and his intestines lay around him partially devoured. Yumi screamed and stumbled backwards out of the room. Hiroki slurped a bit of flesh into his mouth and got up, blood dripping from his chin. He growled as Yumi's mom and dad stood up behind him.

"S-stay back!" Yumi said brandishing the sword. "W-what did you do? What's wrong with-"

With a rage fueled roar they ran towards her, arms outstretched to grab her. Yumi broke into a run, leaping down the stairs and nearly cracking her head on the hardwood floor of the living room. She saw her family at the top of the stairs coming down after her. She scrambled to her feet and ran for the nearest door. She pulled open the door to the linen closet and shut it behind her just as her family burst into the living room. They stood stupidly at the bottom of the stairs for a minute, looking around for any sign of their prey. Her father and brother looked around the living room while her mother shambled into the kitchen and dining room. Defeated, they made their way back upstairs to their meal. Yumi waited for several minutes just in case they may come back. She gently pushed open the door and peaked outside. Nothing. She sighed in relief and stepped into the living room. She closed the door behind her and was immediately blitzed by Hiroki who had been hiding behind the door. He jumped onto her back and began trying to bite and strangle her. Yumi screamed and spun around and around trying to shake him off. Finally, she managed to get some leverage and hurl him across the room, sending him flying through the air like a rag doll. He landed on a glass coffee table, smashing it to smithereens.

"Oh my god!" Yumi cried. "Hiroki!"

Hiroki rose to his feet and growled, a large shard of glass was sticking out of his cheek. Yumi heard her mom and dad thundering down the stairs. A second later they stood around her, growling and slowly advancing towards her for the kill. Yumi held the sword in front of her for what little good it would do. She could never attack her family. She was going to die and she had no idea why. She was about to be torn apart limb from limb by the people she loved and she had no clue why this was even happening. This was it. This was the end. Yumi felt her back hit the wall behind her and she dropped the sword. She closed her eyes waiting for death, hoping it would at least be quick.

Suddenly outside she heard a soft _pop_. It almost sounded like a firecracker. Her parents stopped in their tracks and listened.

_Pop pop. Pop pop. Pop._

They growled and ran for the front door. They pulled it open and ran outside towards whatever was making the noise. Yumi quickly snatched up her sword and ran after them. Outside the bright morning sun caused her to squint but her eyes quickly adjusted. In the middle of the street was a boy, maybe a year or two older than herself. He was wearing blue jeans and a black shirt. He had no shoes on his feet and was holding a handgun, firing at several people that were charging at him. He fired in rapid double taps, bringing down several of his attackers. He didn't notice Yumi's family flanking him from the right.

"Watch out!" Yumi cried.

The boy turned and spotted Yumi's parents running towards him, snarling madly, gnashing their teeth in anticipation. He aimed down the sights of his handgun and started to fire.

"NO!" Yumi cried.

The boy squeezed the trigger but the gun's slide locked back. He was out of ammo.

"Shit." He muttered.

He didn't have time to reload as Mr. Ishiyama was already on him. The boy dropped the handgun and swung out with his right fist. He punched Mr. Ishiyama in the throat, causing him to stagger backwards gasping for air. The boy swung out with an uppercut and caught Mr. Ishiyama on the chin with enough force to knock the man unconscious. Mrs. Ishiyama leapt onto the boy and pinned him to the ground. She roared in his face, spattering him with flecks of blood. The boy slammed his head into hers and kicked her off of him. The boy leapt up to his feet, ready to continue the brawl. Hiroki snarled and grabbed the shard of glass from inside of his cheek. He then lunged at the boy brandishing the makeshift weapon. The boy side stepped the assault and grabbed Hiroki by the arm. The boy gave a violent twist and jerk and Hiroki roared in pain and rage as his arm was dislocated. The shiv fell to the ground and broke as Hiroki's now useless arm hung limply at his side. The boy kicked Hiroki away and scrambled to get his pistol. Mrs. Ishiyama lunged at him and raked her finger nails across his face leaving deep cuts in her wake. He screamed in pain and smashed the handle of the pistol into her face, breaking her nose and knocking several teeth loose. She fell to the ground, unconscious but alive.

The boy ejected the empty clip from the handgun and stuck it into his pocket before loading in a fresh one. He chambered a round and aimed it at Mr. Ishiyama's chest.

"Stop!" Yumi cried running down to him. "Please!"

The boy said nothing as he whipped around to face her, the laser sight on the handgun pointed at her heart, his face devoid of fear. He stared at Yumi intently, his finger positioned on the trigger of his weapon.

"P-please." Yumi begged. "They're just sick or something, I don't know! Please!"

The boy said nothing. He looked Yumi over as if he was searching for something. Nearby, one of the things the boy had just killed moaned and started to get back up. The boy lowered his handgun and started to leave. He paused and without looking back asked, "Coming?"

Yumi looked around. Most of those things were starting to get to their feet and even more were making their way up the street. She didn't like the thought of leaving her family wounded in the middle of the street but they were bound to attack her just as soon as any other of those things once they regained consciousness. She gripped her sword and followed the boy up the street. Her neighborhood looked like it was under siege. A couple of houses were on fire and several abandoned cars cluttered the street. One car was rocking up and down, the back windows had blood spattered all over them and Yumi couldn't see what was happening inside but she had an idea. One the front lawn ahead she saw a woman scream as her two children tore into her back. Yumi opened her mouth to say something but the boy cut her off by grabbing her arm and forcing her to move.

"She's dead." He said into her ear. "Keep moving or we will be too."

She nodded.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Yumi." She replied.

"Darren." The boy said. "You have somewhere safe you can go?"

"Uh, well. I have friends at Kadic Academy." Yumi said.

"I'm heading there myself. Kadic is one of the many institutions that doubles as a safe zone in an event like this. If it hasn't been compromised anyway..." Darren said.

"What the hell is going on?" Yumi asked.

"I don't know." Darren said. "But it'll get worse before it gets better."

Full disclosure: Things I did while writing this chapter

Listen to music on my computer. The Mad Gear and the Missile Kid in case you were wondering.

Research weapons on imfdb. A great site for gun homework by the way when used in combination with wikipedia.


	5. Zombies ate my neighbors!

Scenario 4: Zombies ate my neighbors!

_"With just a touch of my burning hand, I send my astro zombies to rape the land. Prime directive exterminate the whole human race and your face just drops in a pile of flesh and your heart heart pounds till it bumps in death. Prime directive exterminate whatever stands left."_

_ - The Misfits "Astro Zombies"_

The room was quiet. The children had tried using their cell phones to contact the police, their families, anyone they could but none of them could get through.

"Try the police!" A student asked his friend.

"It's engaged." His friend replied before trying another number.

"How about an ambulance?"

"It's engaged Lee." His friend said through gritted teeth.

"A fire engine?"

"It's one number Lee and its busy! What do you want a fire engine for anyway?"

"Anything with flashing lights you know?"

"I can't get through to anyone either..." Tania Grandjean said looking at her mobile in defeat.

"It may be the military." Jeremie said. "In an emergency like this they may have commandeered the use of the cell towers."

"That's stupid!" Sissi said in agitation. "What if there's an emergency!"

"Ever hear of a land line?" Sam asked.

"No!"

Odd sighed and plopped down in a chair opposite of Ulrich.

"So what the heck are we supposed to do?" Odd asked.

It was a question that nobody could really answer. Without their phones they could not contact the outside world. They couldn't risk venturing outside due to those things still shambling around the grounds. The sun had risen and now everyone could plainly see the courtyard of Kadic. Anyone who wasn't in the cafeteria was one of those things, stumbling around stupidly or staring at them through the window, eying them like pieces of meat but for some reason not coming any closer than the tree line of the forest.

"Close the blinds." Aelita said turning away from the window. "Please. I can't stand those things looking at us like that."

Jeremie nodded and he and William began closing the blinds over the cafeteria window, cloaking the room in semi darkness.

"We need weapons." Tina said. "If any of those things get in here I don't fancy the idea of fighting them hand to hand."

"Holland!" Herve yelled suddenly.

Everyone looked at him curiously.

"Uh... The fuck?" Odd asked.

"Jim! He has a shotgun for the high school skeet shooting team." Herve explained. "It's a Holland and Holland double barrel. It was made as a gift for the school."

"Great." Tina said. "Where is it?"

She already figured she knew the answer and didn't ask the question with much enthusiasm.

"In his room!" Herve said excitedly.

"That's great Herve." Odd sighed rolling his eyes. "You wanna jog through the crowd of flesh eating zombies and go get it?"

"Stop calling them that!" Sissi snapped.

"Hey at least I'm being proactive!" Herve spat. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas!"

"Keep your goddamn voice down!" Tina hissed.

Everyone shut up, remembering the threat of the ghouls outside. Suddenly a low, forlorn moaning sound came from behind the door.

"Shit shit shit!" Herve cried silently.

He ducked underneath a table and hid from view.

Ulrich stood up from his chair and crept over to the door. He peeked out of the window and looked outside, holding his breath.

"I think it's clear..." He whispered to the others.

Suddenly, a face bashed itself against the glass of the window, smearing it with blood. Everyone screamed and Ulrich jumped away from the door. The face had been stripped of most of its flesh but Ulrich still recognized who it was. The skinless, skeletal face of Mr. Klotz glared at him through eyeless sockets, gnashing his teeth at his unseen but noticed prey, his jaws making a horrible clicking sound as they made contact with each other. A nerve wracking moment passed until finally Mr. Klotz gave up and shuffled away.

"...We need weapons." Ulrich whispered.

-about ten minutes later-

"Okay."

Odd, William, Ulrich and Nicholas emptied the contents of their arms as quietly as they could onto the counter.

"This is all we could find." Odd said.

They had raided the kitchen and came back with two cleavers, a meat hammer, some kebab skewers, an iron frying pan and several steak knives. Not exactly an arsenal but it was the best they could do on such short notice.

"These are useless." Nicholas said pointing to the steak knives.

"Don't be picky." Odd said. Being the one who found the drawer full of steak knives, he thought he had struck gold.

"No he's right." Tina said picking one up. "Low quality blade. Plastic handle. It'd probably break on impact."

"They'll have to work." Ulrich said quickly defusing an argument.

He picked up one of the cleaver and a kebab skewer, sliding the latter into his pocket. Odd sighed and picked up the frying pan. Nicholas picked up two kebab skewers and gave each a practice thrust while William picked up the final cleaver and ran his finger over the edge, carefully testing it's sharpness. Sam picked up the meat hammer and shuddered at the feeling of the cold metal. She imagined smashing in the face of one of her classmates with it. She grimaced and put it back down on the table.

"Aren't you going to take one?" Odd asked Tina.

She reached into her shirt, presumably her bra, and pulled out a pink butterfly knife with a black blade. She flipped it open and made it dance across her fingers in a black and pink blur before snapping it shut.

"I'm covered." She said blankly.

"So now what?" Thomas Jolivet asked picking up a steak knife for himself.

"Well," Jeremie began as he adjusted his glasses. "The most we can really do is-"

Suddenly, somewhere in the kitchen, a phone began to ring, sounding much louder than it actually was in the dark, quiet cafeteria. Everyone's hearts leapt in excitement, then dropped at another sound. Behind the door, the sound of snarling, raging ghouls filled their ears.

"Someone get that phone!" Ulrich yelled running to the door, cleaver at the ready.

Odd and William followed him as a seventh grader named Jean Baptiste Pujol vaulted over the counter and raced into the kitchen. The three boys slammed their weight against the door and pressed their bodies against it.

"Keep this door shut!" Ulrich cried as it began to buck and shake.

A hand smashed through the glass of the window above Ulrich's head and began to madly clutch at anything it could reach. Ulrich drew the kebab skewer from his pocket and rammed it into the gray hand with all his strength, nailing it to the wooden door. An unearthly shriek echoed from behind the door as the hand began tugging and pulling, trying to retract itself from inside the cafeteria. William lashed out with his cleaver and hacked the hand off at the wrist, spattering blood all over Odd in the process. The bleeding stump pulled out of the window frame, the owner spitting and howling in rage. The door stopped shaking as the things outside backed away.

"T-thanks." Ulrich gasped pulling the skewer out of the hand and letting it drop to the ground with a wet plop.

"Sure." William said just as shaky. "We even about... you know?"

"You're getting there." Ulrich replied.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass caused everyone to jump. Ulrich immediately looked over to the windows to check for any damage but then a scream came from the kitchen.

"Shit!"

Several students ran to the kitchen to see what was going on. They saw Jean's legs sticking out from behind a curtain above a sink next to a phone on the wall, kicking and thrashing wildly, knocking over plates and cups on the counter next to him.

"HELP ME!" He cried.

Ulrich and Odd ran to his aid, the others keeping a safe distance from the horrific scene. The boys each grabbed a leg and pulled, trying to bring Jean back into the room.

"Don't let go!" Ulrich yelled to Odd.

Suddenly there was a wet rip and Ulrich and Odd fell backwards, pulling Jean's headless corpse in with them, blood spurting out of the stump of Jean's neck. Sissi screamed and ran out of the kitchen sobbing, Aelita buried her head into Jeremie's shoulder and Herve actually fainted.

"Goddamn it!" Ulrich screamed in rage.

Ulrich tore through the kitchen knocking over anything he could reach. He kicked the oven as hard as he could and left a dent in the side of it before leaning against the wall, still swearing under his breath. Tina picked up a white table cloth from a shelf and knelt down next to Jean's corpse. She folded his arms over his chest, and draped the cloth over his body.

"Sorry." She said quietly.

They were quiet for a minute. Ulrich starting to calm down slid down the wall and sighed.

"Who was it?" He asked aloud. "Who called?"

Jeremie walked over to the phone and picked it up. He punched in *67 and waited. The phone rang once and Jeremie saw a name and number pop up on the caller ID.

"No way." He gasped.

The caller ID read. "Jim Morales."

Through the receiver next to Jeremie's ear he heard someone on the other end pick up.

"H-hello?" Jeremie asked.

No one answered but Jeremie could hear a slow, labored breathing on the other end, a horrible sound that turned his blood to ice. The line went dead and Jeremie hung the phone up.

"Y-you mean that one of those- those _things_ used a phone?" Sissi exclaimed.

"I dunno." Jeremie sighed. "I think so. I think he, or it, tricked us. Like it knew those things would jump us if they heard the noise and that someone would answer the phone and be within grabbing distance."

"And you're saying it was Jim?" Tina asked.

"I... I dunno." Jeremie sighed. "Regardless, some of things are smarter than we thought. They can think. They can plot."

"And feel pain." Tina said. "When Ulrich stabbed that one at the door it started sounding off like the fourth of July."

"And they backed up after wards." Ulrich said. "All of them."

"Maybe they can communicate in some way, they way they growl or shriek?" Aelita suggested.

"Maybe." Jeremie said dismissively. "But it still doesn't help us get out of here."

"I'll keep trying the police." Sam said walking back into the kitchen. "Maybe I can get through."

"Mind the window!" Odd said following her.

Ulrich ran a hand through his hair and slumped in his chair. He had tried calling Yumi twice but no one at her home picked up and even though it was pointless, he tried her cellphone for shits and giggles. No response. Ulrich was never the religious type but the events that had happened in the past hour had suddenly made him the praying type and he begged whatever god was out there that she was safe.

They had made it out of Yumi's neighborhood. From here Kadic was just a ten or fifteen minute walk. Of course that was without the threat of flesh eating lunatics between you and your destination.

"What caused all these fires?" Yumi asked.

"Dunno." Darren replied.

The air was thick with black smoke. It burned their eyes and made it hard for them to breath.

"Come on." Darren coughed. "The next street is clear from-"

"Get down!" Darren yelled.

The two ducked down behind a car as a flaming police cruiser hurled past them. It slammed into a light post and flipped on its side, the person inside screaming as the flames devoured him. Up ahead they saw a group of people wearing black hoodies that zipped up into a mask that covered the top of their face. Over their mouths they donned bandanas that resembled the lower jaw of a red demon. They were lighting petrol bombs and tossing them at buildings, cars and anything else flammable, laughing manically as they carried on their destruction.

"Those are the black flame burners!" She said horrified.

The black flame burners were a cult/gang/terrorist group that originated in America. They were satanists that used arson to strike terror in major cities and had recently started operating in parts of Europe, specifically Britain and France. Just last week a group trying to set fire to number 10 Downing Street was apprehended while a group in the states coated a van in napalm and drove it into a church, suicide bombing it. No one was killed but plenty were injured by these lunatics and now they were taking advantage of this free for all, burning and killing as they pleased.

"How many bullets you got left?" Yumi asked.

"Not enough to waste on an avoidable fight.." Darren said checking his last clip. "We need to lay low and-"

A glass bottle smashed on the ground nearby them and flames exploded five feet in front of them. Yumi felt the heat on her face and coughed at the fumes from the gasoline. She felt Darren grab her arm and pull her away from the flames.

"Get'em!" She heard someone cry. "Burn'em! Burn'em! Burn'em all!"

She heard Darren snap off several rounds with his handgun before cursing and shoving her to the ground. Her vision cleared and she saw she had been shoved into a brush out of sight. She looked out and saw three psychos charge at Darren wielding various makeshift weapons and laughing as Darren brought up his fists to fight. The first psycho swung out trying to catch Darren in the face with the curved tip of his crowbar. Darren ducked and tackled the psycho to the ground. He pinned him down and squeezed his throat with his left hand and began pummeling the burner's face with his right fist, smashing the lunatic's nose and getting the desired result. The cartilage from the burner's nose punctured his brain and killed him instantly. The second burner lunged at Darren, hunting knife gleaming wickedly in the sunlight. Yumi ran out from cover, unable to just sit by and watch. She swung out her sword with a battle cry that caught the psycho off guard. The katana, sharper than any razor, finally tasted blood after centuries of being silent. The blade cut smoothly and cleanly, taking several of the assailant's fingers with it. He screamed and dropped the knife, clutching his bleeding hand. Darren caught the knife before it touched the ground and brought it straight up into the attackers chest, behind the sternum, straight into the heart. He pulled the blade out as he stood up and let the corpse fall to the ground. Yumi held her sword before her, crouched in a combat pose as Darren twirled the knife around so that the blade was facing down. Blood ran down the blade and dripped to the ground. The last psychopath took a few steps back, his pipe shaking in his hands.

"Well." Darren said. "Your turn."

The psychopath turned and started to run.

"Idiot." Darren said.

He drew his handgun and fired two rounds into the back of the fleeing arsonist who crumpled to the ground dead.

"Don't start what you can't finish." He said sticking the pistol back into his waistband.

"Thanks." He said to Yumi as he wiped the blood from the knife on the first burners jeans.

"No problem. I owed you right?" Yumi said, the adrenaline causing her hands to visibly shake, her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Right." Darren said tugging a leather sheath off of the second burners waist. "Come on. I don't want to be here when the lunch rush hits."

A/N: I was really really proud of this chapter. It only took a night to write but I really like how this turned out. A lot of things came to me as I wrote and plotted and it's really affected the story. Don't forget to leave review. It will please me...

-full disclosure: things I did while writing this chapter-

watch yu yu hakusho abridged on youtube. Love ya Lani

eat half my body weight in General Tso's chicken.

Watch the modern warfare gameplay footage on youtube. Can't wait.


	6. When the levee breaks

Scenario 5: When the levee breaks

A/N: I like to try and put a quote at the beginning of each chapter, just to sort of echo what I'm thinking about as I write. In this instance I can't really say where I heard this quote from. I think it was The Crow, the original graphic novel but I couldn't swear to it. It kind of sounds like something _he_ quoted, so fell free to quote me on the quote i quoted. Unquote. Anyway, enjoy.

_"When the legions of hell come they come not in swarms but in battalions."_

An hour passed before Sam finally managed to get a hold of somebody on the phone.

"It's ringing!" She called excitedly from the kitchen. "It's actually ringing!"

Several students jumped from their seats and ran into the kitchen, crowding around her.

"Hello?" She cried. "Yes! My names Samantha Knight! I'm a student at Kadic Academy! We need help! A bunch of our classmates have gone crazy and are trying to kill us!"

…...

"The cafeteria! Please send someone! Anyone!"

…...

"Okay! We will! Thank you! Thank you!"

Sam hung the phone up and turned to the others grinning.

"They're sending someone now. They told us to block off the windows and doors and wait for them."

Everyone cheered except Nicholas. He leaned against the wall and rolled his eyes.

"What's eating you?" Herve asked. "We're getting rescued!"

"Honestly, am I the only one who watches zombie movies? Or any horror move _ever_?_"_ He asked. "I'll bet you five euros that the cops are torn apart when they get here."

"Shut up you fool!" Sissi yelled. "That's not going to happen! And stop calling them zombies!"

"Okay then _ghouls_!" Nicholas said waving his hand. "Whatever you want to call them it doesn't change the situation. We can't rely on the government to save us because the governments already fucked. We need to worry about getting out of here ourselves!"

"If you want to run out in the middle of that nightmare fine!" Sissi yelled. "Good riddance! I'm staying right here until police come!"

"Fine!" Nicholas said. "Get yourself killed like everyone else. You don't have a brain to begin with so the zombies will most likely ignore you!"

"Oh snap." Odd said, a grin spreading across his face. "When did Nicholas grow a pair?"

"Shut up Odd!" Nicholas and Sissi yelled.

"Guys!" Ulrich said stepping between the two. "We need to stay together! We can't afford to loose our heads, not now! Nicholas, we don't know what those things are outside. In case you haven't noticed the city's turned into a war zone and we can't just run into the middle of it. We need to wait for the cops. They'll take us somewhere safe, somewhere we can ride this out."

"Fine!" Nicholas said throwing up his hands. "No one listen to the horror geek! Do whatever you want but when we're knee deep in the dead, don't come crying to me!"

Nicholas stormed out of the kitchen. Ulrich watched him leave and sighed. Everyone was on edge and Nicholas and Sissi's fighting wasn't making things any easier. He wasn't sure how much longer he could maintain order.

* * *

-twenty minutes later-

Outside the gates of Kadic, a police cruiser parked next to the curb in front of Kadic's entrance. Inside, Officers Petit and Brun were observing the grounds looking for any sign of life.

"Looks dead." Petit commented. "Think they were just pulling our leg?"

"No." Brun said. "Jillian heard real fear in that girl's voice. You can't fake that panic."

"Well," Petit said looking over the quiet schoolyard. "Looks quiet out here. Maybe we should head to blockade. You know, where we're actually needed?"

"Jonah, when you've been on the force as long as I have you learn that things aren't always what they seem. We need to check this place out because when the GIGN secure the downtown area, they're going to start moving civilians out of the hotzone for the military. And where are they going to move them?"

"Uh, The mall?" Petit asked.

"No. Kadic is set up as one of three evac zones in the event of an emergency of this caliber. Now come on."

Petit sighed and the two police officers got out of the cruiser, slamming the doors behind them. They approached the entrance to the school and saw that the wrought iron gates were closed tight.

"That's funny." Petit said as they approached the school gates. "Drive by this place all the time. Never seen the gates closed before."

"Yeah." Brun said looking between the bars. "Come on. Let's see if we can get it open."

The two officers each grabbed the gate and pulled. It slid open with loud shriek of protest. The rusted hinges only let the gate slide open about three feet.

"Okay." Brun said with a strained grunt. "Let's go."

"Pull something old timer?" Petit asked with a smirk.

"Shut it." Brun wheezed.

The two slid through the opening and started down the path towards the school. The path was made from gray cobblestones and bordered by trees on either side, the branches over head blocked out the sun and bathed the path in shadows. Eventually they came to the courtyard of Kadic. They stopped in the center, about ten feet from the water fountain and looked around.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Brun said softly.

"Why?" Petit asked quizzically. "Quiet as a church."

"Exactly." Brun replied.

Suddenly, the water in the fountain splashed and something bobbed to the surface.

"The hell?" Petit asked aloud.

He walked up to the fountain and knelt down next to fountain. He reached out and pulled the thing out of the water. It was soaked and hairy. The water that dripped from it had a slight pinkish tinge.

"What... the hell..."

Petit turned the thing over in his hand and screamed. The blank, pale face a child stared back at him.

"Holy shit!" Brun exclaimed.

Suddenly, the eye's on the severed head fluttered open. The mouth opened in a snarl and bit into Petit's thumb, snapping it clean in half. Petit screamed in pain and dropped the head onto the ground. It bounced once and rolled away from the officers. Petit clenched his bleeding hand and fell to his knees.

"It bit me! It fucking bit me!" He screamed.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang throughout the schoolyard. It echoed through the grounds and sent chills down the officers spines. A few seconds later the shriek subsided leaving them in deafening silence.

"W-what the hell was that?" Petit cried.

A breeze blew through the grounds and shook the branches above their heads, causing the shadows around them to flutter and move as if they had a will of their own. Then, as if riding the breeze, several shrieks began to echo around them and soon the officers were surrounded by a cacophony of madness.

"What the fuck?" Brun said drawing his gun.

Then, dozens of figures burst from behind the trees. There were several adults but most were children ranging in a variety of ages. Their faces were pale and their eyes as red as hellfire. Most were covered in blood and many had pieces torn out of their bodies. Some limped on severed feet, arms outstretched, trying to grab the officers with missing hands. Some moved fast, as if moving on limitless energy. Some moved slowly, hardly faster than a light jog. They all charged towards the cops, roaring their fiercest battle cry. The officers didn't have time to scream, they didn't have time to think. Petit fumbled with his handgun and the two officers opened fire.

* * *

_Pop! Pop pop pop! Pow! Pow!_

"What was that?" Ulrich asked jumping out of his seat.

_Pop pop pop!_

"Gun shots!" Tina said.

Everyone in the cafeteria ran to the windows and peeked out of the curtains. Outside, in the courtyard by the water fountain, two police officers were firing their weapons into what seemed to be the rest of the student body, the faculty and staff.

"Holy shit." Odd breathed.

"Called it." Nicholas said grimly.

"Shut it! They can make it to us!" Sissi said desperately.

* * *

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" Petit cried with every squeeze of his trigger.

A few of the creatures went down with one or two shots, mainly the faster ones but the slow ones seemed oblivious to the bullets tearing through their bodies.

"We need to fall back!" Brun said blowing the head off of a fifth grade girl. "We can get back to the car, radio for- GAH!"

A surge of pain exploded through his right leg. He looked down and saw a little boy with no legs biting into his leg like it was a savory steak. Brun let out a sound that was a mix of rage, fear, pain and regret as he fired his revolver into the boys forehead. In front of him, two of those things masquerading as children shambled up to him. He aimed his revolver and squeezed the trigger but no bullet was fired.

Brun cursed and fumbled with the revolver, trying to load fresh rounds into the cylinder. He had just flicked his weapon closed when the two children tore into him, abruptly followed by three more. Brun screamed as he was pulled to the ground and promptly dismembered by the ghouls. Petit screamed and ran as fast as he could, not daring to look behind him.

* * *

"NO!" Sissi screamed. "DON'T RUN AWAY! WE NEED HELP YOU DAMNED COWARDS!"

Sissi began banging on the glass windows and screaming as loud as she could.

"No you stupid bitch!" Tina yelled.

Tina started to try and pull Sissi away from the window but it was too late. One of the things feasting on the grizzled remains of Officer Brun looked up from its meal towards the cafeteria, a piece of liver dangling from a broken tooth. It opened its mouth and shrieked, letting the piece of meat fall back into the eviscerated torso of Brun. Several of the other ghouls looked up as well and shrieked in return. They all got up and broke into a run.

"FUCK!" Nicholas cried.

"BLOCK OFF THE DOORS!" Ulrich roared, mentally cursing Sissi. "Quick! Barricade the windows before they-"

One of the ghouls hurled itself through the window, showering the screaming students with shards of broken glass and drops of blood.

"SHIT!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"We gotta kill it!" William cried as it rose to its feet and snarled at them all.

Ulrich grabbed his cleaver and started to charge at the creature. Two more windows exploded as more of the monsters forced their way into the cafeteria.

"Fuck!" Ulrich cried shielding his eyes.

When he moved his hand away he saw that two of his classmates were already being dragged to the ground as more of those things pulled themselves through the shattered windows, ignoring the shards of glass lingering in the panes.

"We gotta get the hell out of here!" Odd yelled as he smashed his frying pan into a ghouls face with a loud _PANG_.

"Where the hell do we go?" Tina yelled slashing out with her knife as more of _them_ poured into the room.

"The-" Odd bashed another in the head. "kitchen!"

"Go!" Ulrich cried wrenching his cleaver free from the throat of an upper classman.

Everyone that could broke into a run towards the kitchen. Odd vaulted over the counter and pulled Sam over with him. Jeremie and Aelita followed close behind them as well as any other student that could make it though the growing horde of ghouls that was growing in the cafeteria.

"Ulrich!" Odd shouted. "Come on!"

Ulrich broke into a run, shoving anyone in his way to the ground. He jumped onto the counter and turned around to face the cafeteria. The sight made his stomach clench. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He saw Veronique Fayolle sob as one of _them_ grabbed her by her long blonde braids, pulled her head back and bit into her exposed throat. Yannick Piranet screamed as Lola Kieffer dug her nails into his forearm and began to tear his radius and ulna out of his arm. At the far end of the cafeteria he spotted Desmond, Terry, William and a couple of other students disappear out of a side door, William burying his cleaver into the face of Emilio Rodriguez and they ran. Everyone he knew, everyone he'd spent the past few years of his life with, everyone he had fought so hard to protect were being torn apart before his eyes. He looked down and saw Romain LeGoff glaring up at him, his skin torn and gray, eyes dead of light but alive with rage. Romain pulled his face up to Ulrich's ankle and attempted to bite into his leg but Tina drove her knife into Romain's wrist and gave it a twist. Romain howled in pain and pulled his hand away. Tina grabbed Ulrich by the back of his shirt and pulled him backwards.

"Come the fuck on!" She yelled.

They broke into a run through the kitchen. Ulrich saw one of _them_ knelt down over the headless corpse of Jean Baptiste as two others at the window fought over who would get in first. Odd pulled open the side door and flooded the kitchen with a bright light. He slammed his frying pan into the skull of one of _them_ and grabbed Sam's hand. Together they all ran out of the cafeteria.

"Where do we go from here?" Aelita asked panicked as some of the things inside the cafeteria started to climb over the counter and into the kitchen.

Odd and Ulrich slammed the door shut and wedged a garbage can under the door knob.

"The class rooms." Jeremie said. "We can get to the roof and maybe try and signal for help."

"Shit!" Sam cried pointing towards the courtyard.

While most of _them_ where in the cafeteria, several where still outside and now they were charging and shambling towards the students. Ulrich and Odd ran forward and engaged the creatures that were closest to them.

"Run!" Ulrich called over his shoulder as gripped an enemy by the throat and buried his cleaver into it's chest.

One of the things snarled and lunged at Ulrich, gnarled hands outstretched.

"Ulrich watch out!" Jeremie shouted.

He grabbed the lid off of a garbage can and hurled it like a Frisbee. It hit the creature between the eyes with a loud _pang_ and drove it away, snarling in rage. Ulrich wrenched the blade free and shoved the twitching corpse to the ground. Odd clubbed one of _them_ in the forehead with the frying pan and knocked it to the ground.

"Run!" Ulrich yelled. "Get to the classrooms, we'll be right behind you!"

"Fuck it!" Herb yelled suddenly.

He ran between Odd and Ulrich towards the courtyard and towards the water fountain. He slipped in some blood and stumbled, nearly landing in the fountain's pink waters.

"Herb!" Sissi squawked. "What the fuck are you doing!"

_"I'm in the middle of a fucking apocalypse!" _Herb thought as he searched the remains of the police officer. _"Surrounded by flesh eating cannibals, I'll be goddamned if I'm going to be stuck without a gun!"_

Herb picked up the blood covered revolver and dug out a handful of bullets from the officers pockets.

"There! Got it!" He exclaimed holding the gun in his hands.

A low moan came from behind him. Herb's smile vanished as he whipped around and saw the half rotted face of Paul Gaillard looking down at him.

"GAHHHHHHHHH!" Herb screamed.

Ulrich ran forward and slammed the cleaver into the side of Paul's head, burying the blade halfway through the skull. The impact knocked Paul to the ground and sent him sliding along the ground, taking the cleaver imbedded in his skull with him.

"You all right?" Ulrich asked pulling Herb up to his feet.

"Get off me!" Herb spat. "I don't need your help!"

"What the hell are you doing!" Sissi screamed. "Come the fuck on!"

The two boys exchanged scowls and broke into a run. The rest of the group was already under the long verandah that stretched over the length of the classroom building. Odd, Nicholas and Tina were fighting off a group of _them._ Tina dug her knife into the throat of one of those things but it wasn't even phased by the wound. She pushed against it, trying to keep it at bay but the burly figure of the tenth grader was proving too much for her.

"Tina!" Odd cried warningly as he tried to keep his own enemy at bay.

"I got'em!" Herb said aiming his pistol.

He fired the revolver twice. The first round missed completely and the second hit the creature between the shoulder blades. The bullet exited out the front and passed over Tina's head, spraying her with blood.

"Watch your goddamn fire!" Tina yelled angrily.

"S-sorry!" Herb said, his face paling.

"Give me that!" Ulrich said jerking the gun out of Herb's shaking hands. "You'll fucking kill someone!"

Nicholas rammed his kebab skewer into the eye socket of Tina's attacker and shoved it away. He pulled Tina away by her arm and put himself between her and a second assailant. He used his second skewer to puncture the skull of the ghoul and withdrew it cleanly as the creature fell to its knees. Odd bashed in the skull of the final attacker just as Herb and Ulrich made it to the doors. Tina pulled her bandana off of her head and whipped the blood from her face.

"T-Tina, I'm so sorry!" Herb stammered.

"Shut it. Just open the fucking door!" She snapped.

Herb nodded shakily and shoved his weight into the metal door. It didn't budge and he stumbled back from it clutching his shoulder and cursing with tear filled eyes.

"Think it's locked." Odd said.

"Really?" Herb spat angrily.

"Move!" Nicholas said whipping some blood from his skewer. He stepped in front of the door and knelt down in front of the keyhole. He slid the thin skewer into the keyhole and began trying to pick the lock.

"Hurry up!" Sissi said backing away as another wave of _them_ slowly advanced towards them.

"Patience is a virtue." Nicholas said trying to listen to the tumblers.

"Not right now it isn't!" Odd said sharply.

"Got it! Get in!" Nicholas said pushing the door open.

They all ran inside the building. Ulrich slammed the door behind him and locked it.

"The door should be strong enough to hold them." Jeremie said. "Let's get to the roof and see what's going on. Maybe we can signal for help!"

They made their way up the stairs. On the second floor landing they found one of _them_ gorging on the remains of a severed leg. A few feet away from it was a discarded baseball bat, covered in blood. The leg was apparently female. Most of its flesh had been torn away and the blood from the bone had been licked clean. On the foot was a black high heel shoe slick with blood. The thing payed them no mind, focusing all of its attention on the leg. Ulrich picked up the baseball bat, not taking his eyes off of the thing in front of him. He gripped the bat and swung it, cracking it on the side of the ghouls skull. It fell over and started twitching and snarling. Ulrich brought the bat down again and completely crushed in its skull, spattering the wall and his jeans with dark blood. He then slumped against the wall, panting.

"I-I uh." Sissi swallowed nervously. "I recognize that shoe. That's Ms. Weber's. My- My daddy's secretary."

"Come on." Ulrich said tucking the revolver in his waistband. "We need to move."

They continued up the stairs, taking care to step over the corpse. Emmanuel picked up the leg by the shoe and looked it over.

"Damn. She had nice legs too." He said.

"Hey Poliakoff." He said as Nicholas passed him. "Finger licking good huh?"

Nicholas shook his head.

"Too soon?" Emmanuel asked.

"Not cool man."

Emmanuel shrugged and dropped the leg over the railing before continuing up the stairs. A few minutes later they made it to the third floor.

"Okay. From here we can get to the roof." Jeremie said. "There's a maintenance door at the end of the hall."

"Wait." Aelita said. "Ms. Hertz's room is on this floor. We can get her radio and see if they're saying anything on the news."

"Good idea." Jeremie said. "Let's grab it on the way. Just keep your eyes open."

They walked quietly down the hall to Ms. Hertz's classroom and stepped inside. The lights were out and the only source of light was the sunlight bleeding through the curtains.

"There." Emmanuel pointed at the old radio on Ms. Hertz's desk.

He jogged into the room and pulled the plug out of the wall.

"Jeez, looks like this thing came right out of the seventies." Emmanuel said looking it over. "Holy shit! An 8-track player? Wonder if it works?"

"Come the fuck on!" Sam said in frustration.

"Yeah yeah hold on." Emmanuel said

Emmanuel froze as he heard a faint, raspy growl behind him. He was used to hearing such noises being a metal head but at this particular second, he wasn't listening to music. He exclaimed and turned around seeing Gaston Lagrange, the school's maintenance worker standing behind him. His face was pale and his thumb and index finger were missing from his left hand. His eyes were red and his lips drawn back to reveal a fanged, almost beast-like snarl.

"S-Shit!" Emmanuel gasped.

Gaston lunged at Emmanuel and tried to grab him. Emmanuel jumped back and slammed the radio into Gaston's head, cracking the plastic chassis. Gaston snarled and was slammed into the chalk board by the force of the blow. Emmanuel slammed the radio into Gaston's forehead caved it in putting the ghoul down for good.

"Holy fucking fuck!" He exclaimed.

He looked down at the radio, the door of the 8-track player hung open loosely and refused to shut.

"Aw man." He moaned.

"You idiot!" Sissi exclaimed. "You fucking broke it?"

"It may still work." Jeremie said hurriedly. "Let's get to the roof."

They left the classroom, Emmanuel spitting on Gaston's corpse before he exited. They walked down the hall and Ulrich pulled open the door to the stairwell himself, checking to make sure it was clear. They then ascended the metal stairs to the top and opened the next door, stepping out of the shadows and into the bright sunlight. They all walked across the gravel roof and over to the ledge overlooking the schoolyard.

"Oh my god..." Aelita gasped.

The schoolyard was over run with _them._ In the distance they could see even more of _them_ pouring into the school grounds from the gates. The courtyard was red with blood and they could see a few normal students running through the horde of _them_ trying to escape, only to be grabbed, dragged down to the ground and torn apart, screaming in agony. It was a bloodbath, hell on earth, a perfect storm of madness and destruction. The screams of the living drowned out by the screams of the damned.

"I-I-I can't watch this." Aelita said stumbling away from the edge and falling to her knees.

Jeremie embraced her and tried his best to comfort her. She held her hands over her ears and tried to block out the screams of pain and the shrieks of triumph.

"Jeremie." Ulrich said quietly.

He tried to pull his eyes away from the carnage below but couldn't. He felt as if he had to watch.

"Yeah?" Jeremie replied.

"See if you can get that radio working."

* * *

Ten minutes later Jeremie was sitting with his back against a small maintenance shed on the roof, fiddling with the radio.

"Several components were knocked loose." He said using a small screwdriver to tighten some internal components. "But no outstanding damage."

He screwed the chassis back into place and began working the dials looking for a signal. Aelita, Sam, Odd, Sissi, Emilie and Caroline were huddled around him. Emmanuel and Nicholas were by the ledge looking out at the carnage below. Emmanuel let out a long whistle and crossed his arms.

"Think they really are zombies down there?" Emmanuel asked as he watched two AV club members bite into a struggling cheerleader.

"What do you think?" Nicholas asked.

"Looks like a mosh pit at a razor beast concert." Emmanuel commented.

"Om nom nom nom." Emmanuel said flexing his jaws.

Nicholas sighed and rubbed his eye with his right hand.

* * *

"Here are the rest of the bullets." Herb said glumly handing a handful of rounds to Ulrich.

He had spent the last ten minutes showing Ulrich how to operate the weapon.

"It's a Manurhin MR-73." He had said. ".357 magnum with a three inch barrel and adjustable sights. It's a really sturdy weapon."

"How do you know so much about guns?" Ulrich asked rotating the cylinder.

"My favorite uncle was an... enthusiast." Herb said.

"Don't you shoot?" Ulrich asked.

"No. My parents wouldn't let me learn." Herb said. "You'd have a better chance of controlling the recoil than I would anyway."

There was a tone of bitter disappointment in his voice.

"Dude, I'm telling you." Nicholas said to Emmanuel as they walked back to the group. "This city is fucked. Anyone not on this roof is shuffler chow. One _American_ military base was killed in a matter of hours. I give us a week tops before we join them."

"You really think so?" Emmanuel asked.

"Did I stutter?" Nicholas asked. "This virus or whatever it was hit fast and hard. In three days, we're all that's going to be left. Anyone in that city is deader than a missing schoolgirl."

Ulrich had a sudden urge to plant a bullet between Nicholas's eyes. He walked over to the door and pulled it open, calling a single word over his shoulder.

"Air."

He walked down the steps but almost fell about halfway down when a sudden spike of pain flared up the back of his leg. He hopped the rest of the way down the stairs and out into the hallway. He shut the door behind him and suddenly let out a scream of rage and fear, something he wasn't sure how long he had been holding in. He punched the wall and cursed under his breath before slumping against it, his body shaking with terror. He had never felt like this before. Not even when going up against XANA's nefarious plans. He knew people had often died in the attacks but the body count was reasonably low. XANA's wish was never to kill but to control. Now he felt as if hell itself had crawled out of the very earth and sooner or later it would come to take him and his friends. It wasn't a question of if. It was when.


	7. It's only the end of the world

Scenario 6: It's only the end of the world

_"Now the women are cryin' and the kids are dyin' and the men are runnin' away. Somethin' weird has happened and the devil he's a-laughin' and the church don't know what to say. Now the recently deceased have been openin' their eyes, but I know it's been prophesied through the comics I've been readin' and the movies I've been seein', so it comes to me as no surprise" Harley Poe "It's only the end of the world"_

"This can't be happening." Sissi said.

She was sitting next to Ulrich, hugging her legs to her chest and shaking in fear.

"This can't be real."

"Then you had better tell the zeds down there because I don't think they've caught on yet." Nicholas said darkly.

"Shut up!" Sissi shrieked jumping to her feet. "Just shut the fuck _up_! You haven't said a single encouraging word since this bullshit started and I'm getting sick of hearing your voice!"

"And I'm getting sick of listening to you bitch!" Nicholas snapped. "You and your big fucking mouth haven't done anything useful, now or ever. If it wasn't for you, half of our friends wouldn't have been ripped apart in the cafeteria!"

"Fuck you!"

"Both of you shut up!" Ulrich bellowed.

Sissi turned to yell at him but stopped when she saw the coldness in his eyes.

"We aren't going to get anywhere by fighting." He said coldly. "If all your going to do is fuss and whine and moan then you can get the fuck off this roof. Nicholas, if nothing constructive is going to come out of that mouth of yours than don't say anything at all. Sissi, I mean this now more than ever... shut the fuck up."

Sissi opened her mouth to say something but couldn't form words. She had never felt hurt like she felt right now, as if one of those things down below had reached into her chest with its cold, dead hands and pulled out her heart. Ulrich turned around and left the roof. Odd patted Sam's shoulder and followed him down the stairs.

"You okay man?" He asked.

"No." Ulrich replied. "I feel like I'm just waiting to die and I feel like if I don't see Yumi in the next five seconds I'm going to slaughter my way though every single one of those flesh eating fucks to get to her."

Ulrich wasn't sure where he was walking to. He just didn't want to be around anybody at that moment. He half wanted to tell Odd to piss off but he was starting to feel better about their situation as he talked to someone about it. The two boys stepped into the bathroom across from the world history room. Ulrich walked up to one of the sinks and placed a hand on either side of the basin, leaning his weight into it. He looked at his blood spattered reflection and sighed. He and Odd both looked like they had crawled out of a nightmare. Ulrich turned the sink on and stuck his head under the cold water as Odd tore some paper towels out of the dispenser.

"Look, Ulrich." Odd started as he wet the towels and began rubbing the dried blood off of his face. "I'm sure Yumi is fine. She's a big girl. She's never really needed our help before."

Ulrich pushed the soap dispenser and lathered some of it into his hair to get the blood out.

"Honestly, we've needed her more than she's needed us."

_No shit._ Ulrich thought.

"I'll bet her and her family is safe and sound. Scared as hell, but safe. Waiting for the cops to move in and get them out of the city." Odd continued.

Ulrich suddenly remembered Yumi's last words to him. Her mother was sick and she was going to check on her before she left...

He gripped the sink until his fingers hurt. He gritted his teeth fighting back the urge to scream. At this moment Odd paused and felt his stomach drop. He too remembered that Yumi's mom had been sick. Sick with whatever it was that had been going around. Whatever it was that turned people into those things outside. As if reading Ulrich's thoughts Odd placed a hand on his best friends shoulder.

"If you go out there now, all your going to do is die." He said seriously. "It's not a probably die or a maybe die, it's a will die. Yumi is safe. I'm sure of it. She's not going to let a few zombies stop her. You're needed here. Without you, everyone here will be killed. You're the only thing keeping everyone from falling apart."

"Why does it have to be me?" Ulrich asked.

"That's just your character I guess." Odd said. "You're the one calling the shots. Everyone here will listen to you. Even that 'tard Nicholas and that jerk Herb."

"I dunno." Ulrich said. "Nicholas might know a lot more about this stuff than me."

"He may know a lot about zombies." Odd nodded as he continued washing the blood off of his face and clothes. "This'll never come out." He muttered. "But _you_ know about survival. About fighting."

"So do you. And Jeremie and the others."

"Not like you." Odd said shaking his head. "You're a warrior. Have been since I met you."

"But those things..." Ulrich said staring at the blood in the sink. The pearly white porcelain looked like someone had their throat cut over it. The blood was swirling in the water. Ulrich could almost see patterns in it. The awful, hot, messy, sticky blood. "Those were my friends. They're... They're just _kids_!"

"They aren't anymore and there's going to be a lot more of them. What we need to do is focus on keeping the people that are alive alive until help comes." Odd said.

"And if it doesn't" Ulrich asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Odd said.

Ulrich sighed and nodded.

"You coming?" Odd asked.

"Yeah. Just gimme a minute." Ulrich said.

Odd nodded and left the bathroom.

Ulrich finished washing the blood from his hands and left the bathroom. He walked back to the door that led to roof and saw Sissi walking down the steps.

"Hey. Ulrich? I- I wanted to apologize for... everything." She said nervously.

Ulrich didn't say anything and Sissi took that as a sign to continue.

"I'm just scared you know?" She said. "Everything that's happened, everything that might happen. I haven't been able to contact my dad in the dorms..."

Tears started pouring from her eyes and she didn't seem able to stop.

"And- and Nicholas is right. If I hadn't opened my big mouth our- our classmates might still be alive! They're all dead because-" she slumped against the wall and covered her face with her hands, her body shaking in sobs.

Ulrich felt awkward. He had never seen Sissi cry before and honestly never thought she was capable of it. He sighed and took a step towards her only to grimace and feel his leg spasm. He fell to his knee hissing in pain and clutching his leg.

"Ulrich! Are you okay?" Sissi asked dropping next to him.

"Fine." He said through gritted teeth. "Just a charlie horse. Need to walk it off."

"If you do that you'll make it worse." Sissi said her voice still shaky from tears. "Here, pull your pant leg up."

"W-what?"

"Pull your pant leg up." She repeated.

"N-no it's fine. Jim used to say the best thing to do is walk it off."

"Just do it." She said with more authority in her voice.

She grabbed his leg and stretched it out. Grimacing in disgust, she peeled back the blood soaked pant leg of Ulrich's jeans.

"Where? Here?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ulrich nodded.

She nodded and began massaging Ulrich's calf muscle.

"If you keep walking on it all you'll do is pull or even tear something." She said. "I swear Jim's such an idiot sometimes."

Her voice broke on the last word and she stopped rubbing Ulrich's leg and started crying fresh tears.

"Why am I such a bitch?" She cried aloud.

"Just your character I guess." Ulrich said echoing Odd's words.

She continued crying. Ulrich sighed and knelt down next to her. He wasn't sure what to say or do.

"Look uh- Sissi." He started. "Everything's... going to be... fine?"

The words sounded stupid. He felt them leave his mouth without any real significance. The worst lie he had ever told though Sissi didn't seem to think so.

"Do you really think that?" She asked looking up.

"Yes." Ulrich said with a little more confidence.

"Why?"

"Because... This can't be the end for us. It just _can't._ Being torn apart by zombies isn't exactly the way I pictured myself dying."

"How would you picture it?"

Ulrich thought for a minute.

"Sword fight." He said smiling a little.

Sissi snorted at this.

"Yeah." She laughed. "I bet."

"But really." He said. "If we stay together we can get through this. All we have to do is work together and we'll be okay."

"Okay." Sissi nodded and rubbed the last of the tears and smeared make-up from her eyes. "I highly doubt it but-" She sniffed. "I believe you."

Ulrich smiled and stood up. He extended a hand down to hers and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on let's get back to the others."

They walked up the stairs back to the roof. Jeremie and Aelita were by the ledge setting up what looked like a telescope.

"Found it in the shed." Odd explained. "It's a bit battered but it works."

"As soon as we can get it focused." Aelita said as Jeremie looked through the chipped eyepiece and adjusted the knobs.

"I think this is as good as I can get it." Jeremie said looking up from the lens and putting his glasses on.

Aelita looked through the lens. The image was slightly scratched and blurred. She had to support the telescope herself due to it only having two of its three legs. The body was bent and scratched and looked as if it had been dropped and stepped on.

"The streets are jammed with cars." She said. "Don't see how anyone would be able to drive through that..."

_They told me that I was no good at all, such a waster-_

"Who's phone is that?" Jeremie asked turning around.

"Mine!" Sissi said pulling it out of her pocket.

"I thought the phones weren't working?" Herb asked.

"It's not a call. It's a... a facebook status update? Someone posted on my wall!"

* * *

"Really think this'll work?" Terry asked as he read over William's shoulder.

"Hopefully." William replied as he typed. "I just hope someone out there is alive to read it."

**William Dunbar**

_we r in the dorms. Is any1 still alive out there?_

_ **A few seconds ago * Like * comment**_

William, Terry Masters, Desmond Gerard, Thomas Jolivet, and Tania Grandjean were inside one of the dorm rooms on the second floor. After they fled the cafeteria they had met little resistance from the things outside. They had just ran as fast as they could, bashing down whatever stood in their way. Eventually they got to the dorms and blocked off the main entrance with furniture before running to the stairs and then blocking them off by tilting a soda machine on its side in front of the stairs. They weren't sure whose room they had ran into but when they spotted a white laptop on the bed they had decided to check and see if the internet was still working. When they saw that it was they starting sending messages on every social networking site they could but so far they had no response.

"Think this was Chevalier's room." Thomas said looking around. "He was kind of a geek."

The walls were covered in comic book and movie posters and the floor was strewn with old back issues of Shonen Jump and sci-fi and fantasy novels.

Suddenly, the laptop beeped and a message popped up underneath William's post.

**William Dunbar**

_we r in the dorms. Is any1 still alive out there?_

_ **About a minute ago * Like * comment**_

**Sissi Delmas **

_yes a bunch of us are on the roof of the classroom building!_

_ **A few seconds ago via mobile. * Like* comment**_

"Awesome!" Desmond said.

* * *

"It's William and some others! They're in the dorms!" Sissi said excitedly.

"Really?" Jeremie asked. "That's great news!"

He jerked the phone out of Sissi's hands and began typing out a message.

"Hey!"

**Sissi Delmas**

_William, this is Jeremie. You guys need to stay put. Don't try and get to us. It may be awhile before the police come, if at all._

**William Dunbar**

_Wat the hell is going on Jer?_

**Sissi Delmas**

_Nicholas was right. These things are zombies. We heard it on the news. We don't know how but its really happening._

**William Dunbar**

_Wat do we do?_

**Sissi Delmas**

_All we can do is wait. According to the radio the police are still fighting. They may get to us eventually but we need to start working out a plan. First off, we need to think of a way that you guys can get to us._

**William Dunbar**

_What'd you have in mind?_

* * *

"Okay." William said to the others. "Let's go over it again."

They were all standing in the hallway in front of the door that led out onto the stair case.

"We're going to the floor below to raid Jim's gun locker for the shotgun." Desmond said.

"Also stopping by Stern and Della Robbia's room for Stern's martial arts weapons and Odd's radio." Terry said.

"Tania and I are covering the stairwell." Thomas said.

William nodded.

"Let's hope this works."

William pushed the door open holding his cleaver out in front of him. The stairwell was dark but he couldn't hear anything moving in the shadows. He turned to the others, held a finger to his lips and motioned for them to follow him. They quietly climbed over the vending machine and walked down the steps, taking care not to trip themselves up in the dark. They made it to the first floor and saw that the hallway was empty.

"Keep your eyes peeled." William whispered.

Terry and Desmond nodded and the three boys entered the hallway, William in the front with his cleaver at the ready and Terry and Desmond flanking his left and right armed with a pocket knife and a length of chain respectfully. They slowly and quietly made their way down the hall, ears straining to pick up the slightest sound. They finally reached Jim's door. William reached out and tested the knob.

"Unlocked." He mouthed to the others.

He pushed the door open and the boys slowly stepped inside. The room looked like a small gymnasium. It housed a single bed, a wardrobe, a punching bag suspended from the ceiling, a chin up bar on the wall, and a set of heavy looking dumbbells in the corner. At the foot of Jim's bed was a wooden chest with a heavy padlock.

"Damn it." William muttered holding the lock in his hand. "We'll need a key."

"No we won't." Terry said picking up one of the dumbbells.

He brought the heavy weight down on the lock. The lock itself didn't break but the wood around it splintered. Terry dropped the dumbbell on the ground with a quiet _thud_ that was muted from the carpet.

"Okay. Cool." William said.

He opened the chest and smiled at the contents.

The shotgun was truly a work of art. It was a custom built, hand made Holland & Holland "Sporter", an over/under 12-gauge shotgun. The stock was made from walnut and polished to a glossy shine. The receiver was silver and beautifully etched with Kadic's crest on the side lined in gold.

William whistled and turned the weapon around in his hands. He reached into the chest and pulled out a box of shotgun shells.

"Only got about twenty." He said opening the box.

"Better make them count." Desmond said.

"Know how to use on of those things?" Terry asked.

"Vaguely." William said as he broke the gun and loaded a shell into each barrel.

He shut the gun and thumbed the safety.

"Come on. Ulrich and Odd's rooms just down the hall." William said.

Desmond picked up a duffel bag from inside the chest and the three boys made their way down the hall to Odd and Ulrich's room. They stepped inside and Terry immediately made a beeline for the wall that Ulrich hung his martial arts weapons on. Terry picked up a straight edged wakizashi with a black sheath and drew the blade out. He delicately ran a finger down the edge, testing its sharpness.

"Nice blade. Ulrich must perform maintenance regularly. " Terry said. "Not a knock off either. This thing's combat ready..."

He sheathed the blade and tied the sheath around his belt. He then picked up two pairs of nunchucks, a couple of kunai throwing knives and about a dozen throwing stars. He tossed all of these weapons in the duffel bag as Desmond unplugged Odd's purple radio and wrapped the cord around it. William waited by the door, watching the hallway for any signs of _them_.

* * *

Thomas leaned against the door frame next to Tania.

"What's taking them so long?" Tania asked chewing on her thumb nail.

"They'll be back soon." Thomas said.

"What if they got themselves killed?" Tania asked. "What if we get left alone?"

"That won't happen Tania." Thomas said.

He touched the side of her face with his hand and pushed a long lock of her red hair out of her face.

"I promise. We're going to get out of this." He said.

She smiled weakly and embraced him tightly.

"I'll keep you safe no matter what." He promised.

Suddenly a long low moan carried through the stairwell. Tania pulled away from Thomas and looked towards the staircase. The moan echoed again, cold against the concrete walls.

"Don't worry." Thomas said gently. "Those things won't be able to climb over the soda machine."

They heard the sound of slow moving footsteps echoing through the darkness. They kept getting closer but no silhouette emerged from the shadows. Thomas carefully stepped out onto the landing. On the wall next to him was a fire axe in a glass case. He broke the glass with his elbow and removed it from the case.

_"Come on you son of a bitch..." _He thought gripping the handle tightly.

The moan echoed again, closer than it was before.

"Where is it?" Tania asked.

Thomas walked over to the front of the soda machine and looked down the steps. Nothing but darkness stared back at him. Suddenly Tania screamed, making Thomas jump and almost drop the axe. He whipped around and saw Tania pointing to the staircase that led to the up to the next floor. Shambling down it was Thierry Suares. One of his eyes had been ripped from his socket and he had part of what seemed to be the broken leg of a chair rammed into his stomach.

"Holy shit." Thomas gasped. "They really are zombies."

The thing the used to be a 7th grade boy stumbled down the last few steps, almost tripping. He felt at the piece of wood in his stomach and slowly pulled it out. Dark blood dripped to the ground and the piece of wood came out with a wet squelch. He dropped it to the ground with a clatter and took a step towards Tania. Thomas got between the two of them and shoved the front of the axe into its face. It stumbled backwards towards the railing and fell backwards over it. A few seconds later Thomas and Tania heard a loud crunch. Thomas looked over the banister and saw Thierry on the ground below, part of his skull crushed from the impact.

"What the hell was that?" William asked as he Desmond and Terry stepped over the soda machine. "What the hell happened?"

"Just... one of those things." Thomas said. "I-I took care of him."

William looked over the banister and grimaced.

"Good job." He said quietly patting Thomas on the back. "Let's go."

They all returned to Chevalier's room. Desmond plugged in the radio and began searching through the radio stations. William got back on the laptop and sent a message to Sissi.

**William Dunbar**

_we got the gear. We're ok. Wat do we do now Jer?_

_**A few seconds ago * Like * Comment**_

**Sissi Delmas**

_All we can do. We wait._

_**A few seconds ago * Like * Comment**_

* * *

"Okay." Yumi said. "We're getting close. Just a few more blocks."

Getting to Kadic proved much more difficult than she thought. The roads were packed with abandoned cars, looters, burners and of course _them_. It had taken hours for them to move through the city's streets, constantly taking detours to avoid fighting and of course, having to fight when that proved impossible. Both of them were covered in the blood of their enemies. Darren had ran out of ammunition during a fight with a group of burners and was know relying solely on his knife to fight with.

Yumi had never seen someone like him before. Sure, her and her friends used to fight all the time. Always vigilante against XANA and his plots. Darren fought like a trained soldier. He reminded her of Ulrich to a certain degree but he lacked the finesse that Ulrich used in combat. Ulrich had black belts in several martial arts and may as well have been a master swordsman. Darren was a brawler, someone fully capable of beating, pommeling, gouging and bashing someone to death with his bare hands. He used the knife like he had been born with it, his cuts precise, never missing his mark.

"There." Darren said pointing.

In the distance they could see the grounds of Kadic.

"It looks clear up ahead." Yumi said. "Maybe the school is safe."

"Wait." Darren said stopping. "You hear that?"

Yumi listened.

"No. I don't hear anything." She said.

"Exactly." Darren said. "All the fighting is going on at the other end of town. There's no gun shots, no people to scream or panic. As we've been moving closer to the school those things were moving in the other direction, towards the fighting."

"Do you think they're attracted to the sound?" Yumi asked.

"Probably. We've ran right past some of them and they didn't react until I pulled the trigger."

"Not all of them though." Yumi said. "Some just charged us regardless."

"Yeah. Just don't let your guard down." Darren said.

She nodded and the two ran down the street towards the school.

"Hey! There's a cop car there!" Yumi said excitedly. "They must be safe!"

"Hold on." Darren said. "One of the doors are open."

They both stopped in the middle of the street.

"I'll take point." He said drawing his knife. "Watch my back."

Yumi nodded and held her sword at the ready as Darren jogged up to the cop car. He held the knife ready and stepped around to the passenger side of the car. He sighed and sheathed the knife. He then waved Yumi over.

"What's wrong?" She asked jogging up to him.

On the ground next to the cop car was what was left of Officer Petit. His throat had been torn out and his left arm had been ripped out of its socket. It laid a few feet away in a pool of blood, hunks of flesh missing from the bone.

"Oh god." Yumi gagged stumbling back. "Oh no."

"Yeah." Darren said.

He crouched down next to the corpse.

"He's been dead awhile. The bloods already coagulated."

He examined the black boots Petit wore on his feet. He then began unlacing them and pulled them off.

"What the hell?" Yumi exclaimed. "You're just going to take them?"

"He sure as shit ain't usin' them." Darren said pulling the boots on and lacing them.

He finished tying the laces then looked up at Petit's belt. He reached up and pulled a handgun out of a holster along with two extra clips of ammunition.

"SIG Pro." He said ejecting the magazine. "Nine millimeter. Standard frenchie sidearm."

He slid the clip back into place and turned the safety on. He set the gun and clips on top of the cruiser and removed Petit's radio and nightstick. He turned the radio on and slid the nightstick into his belt. He held the radio up to his mouth and began speaking into it.

"Dispatch this is patrol car-" He glanced at the car. "twenty seven-four." He said into the radio. "Is anyone there? Over?"

* * *

Jillian Coe stopped typing at her computer and pressed a finger to her headset.

"Roger that twenty seven-four. This is dispatch go ahead." She said.

"Dispatch this is Darren Colt. I'm a survivor from Fort Alexander. I'm here at Kadic with a student. One of your officers is dead. Over." A male voice said on the other end.

"Shit!" Jillian cursed.

She sighed, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"What's the situation at Kadic. Over?" She asked.

"As far as I can tell it's quiet but something killed your boy. Over."

She put her glasses back on and began to pull up video feed from French CCTV. One window displayed the outside of Kadic Academy where she could see two teenagers standing next to a patrol car. The next window displayed the outside of the police station. She could see several of those things shambling around outside. The final window showed the entrance to Fort Alexander where several GIGN officers, French police officers, and the last of the American military had established a blockade and were trying to hold the position.

"Okay. Okay. Uhm... Look, Darren? I probably shouldn't be telling you this but the situation downtown is quickly turning into a clusterfuck." She said. "Your best bet would be to get into Kadic and lie low. The GIGN is making their way to your area but they are caught up downtown and I have no idea when they can make."

"Are those things causing that much trouble?" a female voice asked.

"Who is- oh. Right." Jillian said remembering the second person. "No it's not the... _zombies-_" She said this word as if it was taboo. "themselves, it's the burners. Their numbers are greater than anyone could have guessed and they're using guerrilla tactics to ambush any police and military force they can find. That combined with those... things running around is making it difficult to make any progress in securing a defensive perimeter anywhere. Over."

"Roger that dispatch." Darren said. "We're heading into the school now. We'll contact you once we find a place to lay low. Over."

"Roger that. Keep me posted."

Jillian turned her headset off and sighed. She watched the window displaying the entrance of Kadic and bit her lip nervously.

_"Good luck kids." _She thought.

* * *

Darren turned the radio off and clipped it to his belt. As he looked up he spotted something lying in the back seat of the cruiser. He drew the baton and bashed in the window. He knocked a few shards of glass away and leaned inside. He pulled out a Winchester 1300 Defender shotgun. It was equipped with a tactical flashlight under the barrel and spare shell holder on the stock. He pumped the slide and checked to make sure the weapon was loaded. He clicked the safety on and slung the weapon over his shoulder. Finally, he picked up the SIG and tucked it into his back waistband next to the M9.

"Okay." He said shouldering the shotgun. "You ready?"

Yumi nodded nervously.

"Let's go." She said


	8. Early sunsets over Monroeville

Scenario 7: Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

A/N: Another unknown quote. Possibly biblical.

_"...then came a sound, as from brazen trumpets. "earth, give up thy dead: Sea give up thy dead!" And the open plains began to heave and to cast up skulls and ribs and jaw bones and legs which drew together into human bodies and then came sweeping along in dense, interminable masses; a living deluge."_

Yumi and Darren moved through the shadowed entrance towards Kadic. The sun was getting low in the sky and soon night would fall over the city. Yumi couldn't believe it had already been that long since everything started. Since she woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It had been several hours but it felt like just a few minutes. So much could have happened to the school by now. Her friends could be dead by now. Or worse.

Images of her friends flashed before her mind. She could see them all, being torn apart like animals, screaming, fighting, and crying in pain and agony.

_No!_ She thought pushing these morbid terrors out of her mind. _They're alive! They have to be alive!_

As she moved she glanced out of the corners of her eyes. She could see shapes moving around in the trees but she didn't dare stop to get a better look at them. She focused on pushing ahead, on getting to her friends and making sure they were still alive. After what felt like ages Yumi and Darren reached the grounds of Kadic. Yumi had prepared herself for the worst. She figured she may see familiar faces amongst the dead. Friends and classmates, people she knew in one way or another but nothing could have prepared her for the macabre reality that waited for her.

It was the closest thing to hell as Yumi had ever seen. The ground was virtually painted in blood. Severed limbs and scraps of flesh were scattered everywhere. There was no way to tell how many bodies there were. It seemed like dozens but could have just been a handful. Not a single corpse was in one piece. Several stragglers could still be seen shambling around, gnawing on scraps.

"Oh god!" Yumi gasped. "Oh my god!"

Her hand clapped over her mouth in horror. The smell was something like a rotted meat locker and Yumi was fighting the urge to vomit full force. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she couldn't stop her body from shaking.

"Come on." Darren said sharply. "I don't need you falling apart on me now. You're not gonna do your friends any good if you loose it!"

Yumi felt her face grow hot from anger. She wanted to yell at him to give her a break but she knew he was right. After everything they had been through just to get here she couldn't afford to have a nervous break down. Not now. She nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She held back her tears but she couldn't stop her body from shaking.

"Okay." She said. "Let's go."

"I'll take point." Darren said. "Where do you want to start?"

"I- I don't know." Yumi said. "Uh... Let's- Let's just get into the courtyard and search for clues."

Darren nodded. Yumi wasn't sure what he meant by taking point but she assumed it meant for him to lead. She let him walk about ten feet in front of her before she started after him, her katana held at the ready. They walked slowly, listening for any signs of movement that wasn't their own. The terrain was awkward to walk on, the ground was slick with blood and Yumi was trying not to slip. Every once in awhile she'd step in a puddle deep enough so that the blood would actually splash around her shoes. They approached the water fountain in the middle of the schoolyard and saw that its waters were dyed red with blood and several corpses surrounded it.

"Recognize anyone?" Darren asked.

"No." Yumi said.

There wasn't enough left to make a positive ID on any of the corpses. For all she knew her friends could have been amongst the dead but she would never had been able to tell.

" 'Nother cop here." Darren said nudging an almost skeletal corpse with his foot.

"Guess they made it into the school before..." Yumi trailed off looking down at the body in repulsion.

Most of Officer Brun's flesh had been devoured leaving behind nothing more than a gory skeleton and a few blood soaked scraps of what used to be a clean pressed police uniform.

"There was a fight here." Darren said walking around the fountain. "There's some spent brass. Less than ten rounds. Think they came from the other cops gun. These bodies over here have several gun shot wounds..."

He trailed off as he crouched down next to another corpse.

"What is it?" Yumi asked.

"There was more than just the two cops fighting." Darren said. "This one was sliced up, this one has blunt force trauma from something big and wide, then that one over there-" He said nudging his thumb. "Has a cleaver buried in 'is skull. And the cop's weapon is missing."

"So there are survivors!" Yumi said excitedly.

"Maybe." Darren said. "But there's too many footprints in the blood to get an idea where they went."

Suddenly, the remains of Brun sharply inhaled a breath, a sickening raspy sound that made Yumi jump. It seemed to be struggling to breathe, trying to inflate lungs that had been torn out hours ago. It let out a low rasping roar and exhaled a red mist of blood from its mouth, spattering the bottom of Yumi's pants and covering her exposed ankles in blood. She screamed and stumbled back away from the body. Darren jumped up and splashed through the bloody water of the fountain, jumping over to the other side. He brought his foot down and curb stomped Brun's skull, turning it into a pile of pink and red mush. The roar stopped but it was answered in turn by dozens of shrieks and moans coming from the surrounding woods.

"Darren!" Yumi cried.

"I know!" Darren said raising his weapon. "Get ready!"

Odd was laying on his back. Despite the hard pointy gravel underneath him, he felt comfortable. His head was laying in Sam's lap and she was gently stroking his hair. They sky was beautiful. One of those rare, amazing sunsets that stays in your mind forever. They sky was a gorgeous shade of an almost pinkish orange that seemed to change the color of the area around him, making it look like an old technicolor film. It was a genuine crime that it was wasted on a day like this. He stared up into the sky, hoping that it would never change. That it would stay beautiful forever. He began to feel lazy and stupid, like he used to feel in Ms. Hertz class on a hot day.

_I could totally fall asleep right here._ He thought as he closed his eyes. _Go to sleep in hell, wake up in wonderland..._

_ BLAM! _A loud gunshot echoed through the air and caused many of the children to jump.

"What was that?" Ulrich asked standing up.

"Gun shot!" Tina said jumping up after him.

"Mmmmmm." Odd moaned. "I have to get up don't I?"

"Come on!" Sam said pulling him up.

Everyone got up and ran to the ledge over looking the schoolyard.

_ BLAM!...BLAM!_

"There's someone down there!" Aelita said looking through the telescope. "Oh my god! Ulrich! It's Yumi!"

"What?" Ulrich asked jerking the telescope out of Aelita's hands.

Yumi slashed upwards with her katana, slicing her target's stomach open in a deep vertical gash. Blood painted the air and it fell backwards as Darren fired his shotgun from the hip. The impact blew open a zombie's chest like a blood filled pinata and knocked it on its back. Yumi ran past Darren as he pumped the slide. She slashed out with her sword, cutting the throat of another zombie and nearly decapitating it. It let out a gurgling moan as thick blood slowly seeped from the wound. Darren bashed the zombie in the head with the butt end of the shotgun, knocking the head the rest of the way off.

"There's somebody with her!" Aelita said as Ulrich looked through the telescope.

"Who?" Tina asked.

"Get down!" Darren shouted.

Yumi slid to her knees as Darren blasted two of the faster zombies that had charged Yumi from the back. One of their heads practically evaporated, the second had a good chunk of their shoulder blown away. Yumi brought her sword straight up into the bottom of the surviving ghouls chin. She withdrew it and jumped to her feet. She then scissor kicked a zombie and broke it's chin. Darren pulled the trigger on the shotgun but the chamber clicked empty. He quickly drew his knife and jammed it into the throat of a charging ghoul. It gurgled and slumped to its knees, its hands weakly trying to grasp the handle of the blade. Darren round house kicked another zombie as it shambled up behind him, grabbing his knife from the first zombie's throat as he came full circle.

"Holy shit..." Odd said as he looked through the telescope. "Told you they were sending Chuck Norris..."

"Let me see!" Tina said jerking the telescope out of Odd's hands.

She brought her eye down to the lens and gasped.

"Oh my god! Darren!" She cried.

"There's to many, they'll never make it through all of them!" Sam said nervously. "We have to help them!"

Behind her the door to the roof slammed shut and Ulrich, Odd, and Tina had disappeared.

Darren fired his final shell into the torso of a charging zombie, the 00 buckshot shell blowing a hole big enough for someone to put their fist through.

"Reloading!" Darren shouted as he began feeding shells from the shell holder into the receiver of the shotgun.

"I'll cover you!" Yumi yelled back.

A group of the undead started to bear down on Darren as he loaded his weapon. Yumi sprinted forward and began slashing out with her sword, trying to keep the zombies at bay. She sliced off an exposed arm, cut off a leg at the knee, eviscerated another and finished he assault with a decapitation that would make her majesty the red queen green with envy. Darren finsihed loading the shotgun and pumped the slide. He took quick aim and fired blowing off two zombies heads that were trying to flank Yumi.

"Come on! He yelled.

They broke into a run. Darren stopped taking the time to fire and merely bashed his way past a zombie if it got to close, meanwhile Yumi sliced and diced her way through the crowd like a blender from hell. They fought their way through the horde, not daring to slow down, knowing if they broke pace it would be the end of them. Eventually they had to stop. They had fought their way into a corner and were stuck. They had run out of room to run and neither of them had the strength left in them continue their charge. Both were covered in blood virtually from head to toe and were panting to catch their breath. All around them the zombies slowly formed a circle, preparing for the kill. They were surrounded by dozens of pairs of eyes, some filled with rage and others completely lifeless, looking at everything and seeing nothing. Darren and Yumi went back to back and held their weapons ready.

"How many bullets do you have left?" She asked.

"Not enough." Darren replied.

"No way I'm going down with out a fight!" Yumi said.

Her hands were shaking, not from fear but from adrenaline fueled by anger.

"Neither am I." Darren said softly.

_Ulrich... guys... _Yumi thought sadly. _At least I tried._

Suddenly a gunshot rang out and the zombie closest to Yumi fell backwards, its eye socket exploded and blood spurted out the back.

"What the-"

"Yumi!" a voice cried out.

Over the heads of the approaching zombies Yumi could see Ulrich, Odd, and a girl she didn't recognize running towards them. A zombie in front of Darren looked over its shoulder back at them and snarled in anger. It turned back to face Darren but found it staring down the barrel of his twelve gauge.

"Bang."

He pulled the trigger and the zombies head exploded in a geyser of blood, skull fragments and gray matter. Darren pumped the shotgun, grabbed Yumi's hand and they broke into a run pushing through the crowd of the undead and coming out on the other side. Ulrich fired his revolver and two more zombies went down as Darren and Yumi pushed past more zombies and came to meet them.

"Yumi!" Ulrich cried running towards her.

"Ulrich!"

Yumi ran into his arms and the two embraced.

"Darren!" Tina exclaimed as she started towards him.

"Not now!" Darren yelled. "Everyone fall back! We have to get out of here _now_!"

Yumi nodded.

"Come on!" She said to Ulrich.

They started to run for the classrooms but when they turned around they saw that the zombies from the cafeteria were emerging from the shattered windows to see what all the commotion about. Soon they were surrounded by dozens of the undead and standing back to back in a circle.

"Shit." Darren growled.

"Oh well." Odd said shakily. "Out of the frying pan, into another frying pan."

"We have to fight our way through." Ulrich said clenching his bat.

"Anybody have any ideas?" Yumi asked.

"If it says "BRAINS!" kill it?" Odd offered.

"They're already dead." Tina argued.

"Then kill them again!" Darren said sharply.

"Wonder what kind of zombies these are exactly?" Odd wondered with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Think they prefer brains or flesh or what?"

"They can eat shit and die for all I care!" Tina said. "Let's just worry about getting out of here!" "How many bullets do you have left?" Tina asked Darren.

"Not enough." Yumi said.

Suddenly two gunshots rang out and a zombie's head near Odd exploded, spraying him with blood.

"Ah!" He cried. "The hell?"

Something whizzed by Ulrich's ear and a throwing knife buried itself in a zombie's throat. Two more gun shots cracked and three zombies went down revealing a group of people standing behind them. William broke open his shotgun and the two spent shells clattered to the ground. On his right Desmond held a long length of chain in his hand was wrapping it around his right fist. Next to Desmond, Terry held Ulrich's wakizashi and another throwing knife akimbo and had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. On William's left was Thomas with a fire axe and Tania wielded a broomstick that had the end broken off with a pocket knife taped to the end making a makeshift spear.

The cavalry had arrived.

Several of the zombies turned around and snarled at the new group of students who stared back at them, some with more confidence then others. There was a few seconds of silence, both groups just stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally someone spoke. Desmond held up his hand in salute.

"Yo."

At the sound of Desmond's voice a sprinter let out a shriek and charged William's group. Desmond hurled his chain and it wrapped around the sprinters throat. Its hand flew to its throat and it tried to pull it free but Desmond gave the chain a quick tug and pulled the zombie towards him, giving it a vicious right hook and knocking it to the ground. Terry ran forward and used the zombie's skull as a boost to jump into the air and impale a zombie through the heart with his sword. He drew it out cleanly and slashed another zombie's stomach open. His sword wasn't as sharp as Yumi's but it cut cleanly and with little effort.

"Come on!" William yelled as he closed the shotgun.

He fired the first barrel and blew an advancing shambler on its back.

"We gotta get out of here!"

He fired the second barrel into the head of the shambler as it started to get back up. Thomas swung his axe and buried the blade into the throat of a sprinter that tried to rush Tania. The axe cut through the neck but didn't severe the head. The zombie shrieked and gurgled as Thomas pulled the axe free and Tania impaled the zombie with her spear, straight through its eye socket. She pulled the spear free and the zombie fell to the ground.

Darren blasted a zombie with the shotgun and pointed at William.

"You! On me! Everyone else bring up the rear!" Darren said.

He and William broke into a run while the others followed them. In front of them was a horde of the undead.

"What the heck are they doing?" Sissi cried. "They're going to get themselves killed!"

The group was surrounded on all sides. Even together all that seemed to mean was that there was more food for _them_.

"God damn it!" Sam said under her breath.

"You two!" She barked.

Nicholas and Herb wheeled around to face her, caught off guard by the sudden address.

"W-what?" Herb asked.

"We have to help them!" Sam said.

"F-F-F-Fuck that!" Herb stammered. "No one made them go down there!"

"What did you have in mind?" Sissi asked stepping forward.

Herb gasped and stammered at Sissi. Sam smiled and nodded.

"I have a plan."

"Open fire!" Darren said.

He and William aimed their shotguns and continuously fired from the hip. William had to reload every two rounds but the steady spread from the shotgun shells provided a wall of lead that tore any zombie unfortunate enough to be caught in front of them to pieces. They led the way while everyone else behind them watched their back and kept any surviving zombies at bay. A zombie staggered into the middle of the group and Ulrich quickly swung out with his baseball bat, smashing the zombies jaw. It staggered but managed to keep its footing. It rose to its feet, the jaw hanging loosely, unable to close. Yumi slashed out with her sword and sliced through the zombies neck, it spun around from the impact and met Terry who slashed the other side of its throat. The only thing that kept the zombies head on its shoulders was a few inches of pale skin. The head swayed from side to side as the body stumbled around. Ulrich swung out his bat and sent the zombies head flying through the air.

Darren fired his shotgun, cycled the chamber but when he went to fire again the chamber clicked empty.

"I'm out!" He yelled.

Up ahead of them a large 12th grader who was a member of the school's wrestling team charged forward, arms outstretched in a manner that suggested he meant to clothes line William and Darren. Desmond hurled one end of his chain to Terry who caught it and they both pulled.

"Get down!" Desmond yelled.

William and Darren slid, ducking beneath the 12th graders arms. He ran straight into the chain and was knocked backwards, his legs flying forward underneath him. The back of his head slammed into the pavement and cracked. A zombie flung itself at Darren and pinned him to the ground. Darren drew his knife and drove it into the zombie's chest. It just snarled and ignored the 13 inch blade that had just punctured its lung. The zombie roared in Darren's face and gnashed its teeth which were just an inch from Darren's face. Darren struggled and pulled the SIG out of his waistband. He pointed the barrel under the zombie's chin and pulled the trigger. The bullet blew out the back of the zombies head and the zombie slumped on top of Darren. Darren kicked the zombie off of him and jumped to his feet.

"Come on!" William said. "We're almost to the classrooms!"

Sam, Sissi, Nicholas and Emmanuel ran down the steps, taking them two at a time. On the last floor they slid down the rail and ran for the door that the others were trying to get to. Sam opened the door and two zombies looked up from the corpse they were eating and growled. Sam immediately smashed in one of their skulls with her meat tenderizer and Emmanuel kicked the other in the chin. He then used a fire extinguisher to smash in its forehead. In the distance they could hear gunshots and the sounds of their friends getting closer and closer.

"Here!" Sam said.

She ran up to a box mounted on the wall and smashed the glass case. Inside was a long length of fire hose that she immediately began to unwind.

"You two hold it steady." She said to Nicholas and Emmanuel.

"You turn it on when I give the signal." She said to Sissi.

They nodded and went to work.

The numbers of the undead were dwindling but so was the groups ammunition. William was down to a handful of shells, Darren's handgun had jammed from being fired so close to the zombie's skull and he was using his knife to cut down whatever got in his way.

"Just a little further!" William said more to himself than everyone else.

"Now!"

Suddenly the horde of zombies was blasted by a massive jet of water. Several were knocked to the ground while others were sent flying through the air. Up ahead by the door to the classrooms they could see Sam and the others using a fire hose to clear the way.

"Hurry!" Sam said straining from the force of the hose.

Everyone broke into a run and made for the doors. Sissi turned off the hose and Sam and her group followed them, slamming the doors behind them.

"W-we made it?" Tania gasped. "We made it!"

"Thanks babe." Odd said as Sam embraced him.

Yumi and Ulrich embraced.

"I thought you were dead." Ulrich gasped in her ear.

"Me too." She said.

Tina pushed through them and walked up to Darren who had slouched against the wall. He raised a hand as a sort of wave and then she slapped him across the face.

"What the fucking _fuck_ took you so fucking long?" She roared in his face.

"Tina-" Ulrich started.

"Shut the fuck up!" She snapped at Ulrich.

She turned around and glared up at Darren.

"What?" He asked dubiously.

"Well?"

"What?"

"Where's my brother! Where's Chris and the rest of the bastards?"


	9. War Games

Scenario 8: War Games

"**Suit up"**

**1634 hours**

**The day before infection**

**Freshman Gary "Newbie" Sanderson**

**Fort Alexander High School**

Gary "Newbie" Sanderson followed his squad down the halls of Fort Alexander's high school. His stomach was doing somersaults and he wasn't sure if he could calm himself down before the mission started. He was walking a few steps behind the rest of his squad. He could see the backs of Darren Colt, Chris Duff, Ben Ramirez, and John Novak. They walked with a sort of confidence that Gary felt he could never achieve. Compared to all of them, Gary resembled a runt among a pack of wolves. Darren had an athletic build but was still slim compared to Chris and John. His hair was a dark brown color and he had dark eyebrows over blue eyes and was sporting a black t-shirt, jeans and boots. Chris was huge for his age, standing just under 6'5. He was wearing blue jeans, a faded black Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt, a camouflage shirt with the sleeves cut off, and a blue bandana over his long blonde hair. Ben was Hispanic with a crew cut hairstyle and a mustache. He was wearing a white tank top and cargo shorts. John was a little shorter than Chris but just as muscular. He was wearing jeans, Vans sneakers and a white hoodie. They were all talking and joking except for Darren. Since Gary had met him he had come to see that Darren was more quiet and reserved than the others.

_Maybe I'm not cut out for this._ He thought bitterly.

"Nervous newbie?" His teammate Ramirez asked over his shoulder.

"A little." Sanderson admitted, his voice cracking.

"You'd better be." Chris said darkly. "You'd be an idiot not to. You're a last minute recruit and if we get kicked from the tourney this early because of you, I'll kick your ass myself."

Gary felt like he was going to be sick. He suddenly had a mental image of Chris pulling his arms our of his sockets and beating him to death with them, reminiscent of a nightmare he had about Chewbacca when he was in second grade.

"Chill out Chris. You'll make the Newbie shit his pants before he sets foot out on the grounds. Besides he wouldn't even be here if your sister hadn't bitched out on us." Novak said.

"Sister?" Gary asked.

"Yeah." Novak said. "Chris's sister Tina was our squads sniper before we found you. I swear that girl could be the next Annie Oakley. Anyway, she was our sniper and then she quite because she switched to a local high school."

"Why?"

"She was getting sick of the life." Chris said. "Not like it's any of your fucking business."

"S-sorry." Gary muttered.

"Don't let Chris get to you Gary." Darren said without glancing at Gary. "We went through twenty different recruits that were after a spot on our squad and we picked you because you were better than everyone else."

Gary nodded nervously. His stomach hadn't stopped its gymnastic routine but he was beginning to feel a little better. After all, out of twenty five targets he scored twenty two consecutive shots. The instructor overseeing the target practice commented he'd make a decent sniper if he joined the army.

They came to the locker room and walked inside. It was a faded white room that reeked of sweat and axe body spray with about a dozen blue lockers on the left hand side and several shower stalls on the right with a single long wooden bench in the center. Across from the entrance was a metal double door that led outside to the playing field. The effect was instant. As soon as they stepped through the doors, the joking and horsing around stopped. They all went to their respective lockers and began to suit up. The members of bravo squad, AKA "The Bastards" were all business.

Gary stood in the doorway awkwardly, not sure what he should be doing.

"Newbie?" Novak asked fastening his tac-vest.

"Yeah?"

"Your locker."

"Oh! Right." Sanderson said pulling the scrap of paper that he had written his locker combination on.

"Uhm, which locker was it again?" He asked.

"You're Bravo 5 so you tell me." Chris growled.

Sanderson looked at the lockers and realized they were all labeled. He walked over to the fifth locker and began putting in the code. The lock clicked open and he pulled out Bravo's uniform. It consisted of a black tactical shirt, black and dark green camouflaged cargo pants, black knee and elbow guards, and a black tactical vest for holding extra magazines and other equipment.

"So uh, how exactly does this work?" Gary asked as he changed clothes.

"There's usually two teams to a match. We're given certain objectives to accomplish in order to win. The guns shoot harmless paint rounds." Ramirez said.

"Do they hurt?" Sanderson asked.

"Not really. You may get a bad bruise but the main idea is to not get shot at all."

"Right."

"Anyway, you get a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, two 'nades, and a headset to keep in contact with your team."

"Do you get a choice of your weapon?" Sanderson asked.

"No. Everyone gets the same gear for the most part. Either an M16 or an M4 that fire in semi auto and full auto respectfully. Depending on what you do in your squad yours will be modified somewhat. Yours will have a scope but that's all really."

Ramirez pointed to what looked like a closet with a mesh door. Gary walked over to it and saw several duffel bags hanging from hooks on the wall.

"The pink one!" Ramirez called from his locker.

Gary pulled open the door and pulled a cord that dangled from the ceiling overhead, illuminating the room in a harsh yellow light. Of the five bags hanging from the hooks, only one was pink while the others were black. He pulled the bag off of a hook and unzipped it. Inside was his rifle, an M9 handgun, several extra magazines, a red grenade about the size of a baseball and a gray grenade shaped like an aerosol can.

"A "frag" grenade and a smoke grenade." Ramirez explained as the others moved to the room to collect their gear.

Darren's favored weapon was an M4 with a front grip, jungle taped magazines and a laser sight. Chris used an M4 with an ACOG scope and tactical light, Ramirez used an M16 with a "grenade launcher" and Novak used an M4 with a high capacity drum clip and grip.

"Groovy." Ramirez said loading a 40 millimeter paint round into his weapon.

Novak scoffed and picked at a spot of paint on the barrel of his weapon.

"So, what's the game today boss?" Novak asked.

"Search and Destroy. It's us, Alpha, Charlie and Delta." Darren replied as he applied fresh tape to his clips.

"A four way? Already? The season just started!" Chris exclaimed.

"I know." Darren replied. "And that's not the shit part. We got eliminators to worry about too."

"Damn it." Chris growled.

"Eliminators?" Gary asked.

"Actual, trained soldiers they sick on us." Darren explained. "They don't take sides, they just hunt down and eliminate players."

"How many?" Chris asked.

"'Bout a dozen."

"Fuck!" Novak exclaimed in disgust.

"How do we win?" Gary asked.

"See the patch on your vest? The Velcro one? All squad members have one." Darren explained. "When you take someone out you take it from them and turn it in for points. It's important so don't forget to confirm your kills. At the end of the year the team with the most points wins. The game today is search and destroy meaning all we have to do to win is take out anything that moves. The game is over when there's only one team left."

"Sound simple enough?" Novak asked.

Sanderson nodded nervously.

"Don't worry socio. You'll do fine." Ramirez said.

Gary nodded and took a deep breath, which he exhaled sharply as the doors opened and the Drill Sergeant stormed into the room flanked by a soldier on either side. He looked to be in his mid forties and was wearing his dress uniform. Gary had seen him around the base before but had never been able to look him in the eye. He was an intense man in charge of training new recruits and was also head of the young soldiers program that the rest of Bravo squad, save for Gary, were members of.

"All right you sacks of shit!" He barked. "Get your twinkle toed, Justin Bieber listening, fairy asses in formation now now now!"

Bravo immediately lined up. The sergeant made a bee line for Sanderson and glared at him, the tip of his nose brushing against Gary's.

"You! What's your name?"

"G-Gary Sanderson sir!"

"Well "Gary", how tall are you?"

"What?"

"What? What? I wasn't aware that was a measure in height! I'm a little slow so tell me again, how tall are you?"

"F-five seven sir!"

"Five seven? I'll be a son of a bitch Sanderson I didn't know they stacked shit that high! Now correct me if I'm wrong but I see a little problem with this picture! What's your number Sanderson?"

"W-what?"

"You can't fool me twice private! What's your number?"

"Bravo 5 sir!"

"Well then tell me why you are at the front of this formation!" The Drill Sergeant demanded.

"I-I-I-"

"He's a new recruit sir!" Darren said. "I didn't tell him that we had a specific formation sir!"

"Oh so it's YOUR fault pretty boy!" The drill sergeant barked stepping in front of Darren. "If you had as tight a grip on your squad as you had on your dick maybe we wouldn't have this problem!"

"Yes Drill Sergeant! It won't happen again Drill Sergeant!"

"Well you had better see that it doesn't! Next time I come in here I better see all of you standing were the fuck you are supposed to understand?"

"Sir yes sir!" Bravo said in unison.

"Sanderson fall in formation!" Darren barked.

Sanderson quickly took his place at the end of the line. The Drill Sergeant moved down and glared up at Chris.

"Well lookie here! Jenkins!" He called to one of the soldiers by the door.

"Sir!"

"Call the goddamned press! Tell'em I found me a real live big foot! Blondie you're so goddamned tall I should stick you in a cage and charge everyone ten cents to come and spit on you!"

"Sir yes sir!" Chris said unfazed by the remark.

Next was Ramirez.

"And here's Bravo's token cholla. I'm surprised to see you awake! It's a bit early for you isn't?"

"Sir no sir!" Ramirez said. His face was blank of emotion but the corners of his mouth were twitching slightly.

"Well that's good to hear! Why did your Pa join the military maggot? Did they close the home depot?"

"To serve his country sir!" Ramirez replied.

"Is that so? What does he do for Uncle Sam? Does he cradle the balls while Colt's Pa works the shaft?"

"He's a carpentry and masonry specialist sir!" Ramirez said.

"Is that so! Well I'll be a son of a bitch! You mean to tell me your Pa jumped the fence so he could build fences?"

"Sir yes sir!"

The Sergeant moved to Novak.

"Novak! After four billion years of evolution why the fuck do you look like you just crawled out of a puddle of ooze? Wash your damned hair and trim your goddamned nails!"

"Sir yes sir!"

He moved to Sanderson.

"And we've come full circle! Let's try this again Sanderson! How tall are you?"

"Five Seven!"

"What's your number?"

"Bravo 5!"

"Well shit, look at the fucking rocket scientist in our midst! You must make your momma proud!"

"M-my mom's dead sir!" Sanderson broke.

"Well I guess that's why she didn't move around a lot!" The Sergeant barked.

He stepped away from the squad.

"At ease." He said.

They all relaxed a little.

"Now then. In this match you've got three different teams gunning for you. I've already spoken to 'em and they've all said that you bastards are a bunch of pickle puffing, Twilight reading, disco dancing, queers with more nuts in your mouth than between your legs! Are they right?"

"Sir no sir!" They said in unison.

"Are you going to let them talk about you like that?"

"Sir no sir!"

"I don't believe you! Now then I have fifty dollars riding on this match, and not that toilet paper frenchie uses! Real American money! If I loose it I'm taking it out of all of your asses! Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!"

The Drill Sergeant got in front of Darren. Not in his face like before but still standing right in front of him.

"You move out in five minutes! I suggest you take that time to break in your new recruit before the enemy breaks him first!"

"Sir yes sir!" Darren said.

The drill sergeant turned around and stormed out of the locker room with the other two soldiers.

"That guy is fucking intense." Gary gasped after he let out a long sigh.

"Ah Sarge is just fucking around. That's just how he wishes us good luck." Ramirez said.

"Dude, is your mom really dead?" Novak asked.

Sanderson smiled weakly.

"No."

Ramirez laughed and slapped Gary on the back.

"I think we're going to get along fine Newbie." He grinned.

"All right." Darren said shouldering his rifle. "It's time to move out."

They walked to the door that led out to the battlefield and as Darren and Chris pulled the doors open, Gary felt his stomach settle and as they ran through the trees, for the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged to something.


	10. Assault of the Dead

Scenario 9: Assault of the Dead

"**FUBAR"**

**0314 hours**

**Darren Colt**

**Fort Alexander Residential Apartment 303**

_"My nerves are made of steel. My nerves are made of steel. My nerves are made of steel. My nerves are made of steel. My nerves are made of steel. My nerves are made of steel."_

_Monster Magnet- The Right Stuff._

Darren stared up at the ceiling wearily. He had literally just woken up but couldn't recall exactly why. His head was throbbing intently and in the darkness of his bed room, he felt as if his bed was slowly rotating, leading him to the conclusion that he was drunk or at least hung over. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, trying to will himself not to vomit.

_Better safe than sorry. _He thought finally.

He got out of bed and stumbled out of his room, across the hall and into the single bathroom in the residential apartment he occupied alone. He flicked the light switch on and leaned on the sink, wincing from the bright white light from the florescent bulbs above him. He stared at himself in the mirror and concluded he was indeed hung over. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes smelled of cigarettes. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on what happened the previous night. He gritted his teeth in pain as he clenched his right hand to make a fist. He looked down and saw his knuckles were red, scrapped and bruised. For whatever reason, someone had been on the receiving end of a beating though he couldn't recall who. He felt another pain swell in his shoulder and he peeled his sweat and dirt stained shirt off of his back and tossed it on the floor. On his left shoulder was a scar that looked like a gunshot wound but the mark was nothing new. He didn't however recognize the four or five purple and black bruises that covered his chest. He grimaced and moved his arms and head around, trying pop his back and neck.

He closed his eyes and thought back as far as he could. It started to come back to him in pieces and he remembered that they had won the match the previous day. They had dominated the other teams and didn't lose a single squad member. Even the newbie had gotten himself four confirmed kills as well as an eliminator before he could take out Novak. Darren had an eye for talent.

After the match was over and night had fallen over the city they went out to celebrate, hence the obnoxious hang over. Darren did vaguely recall a fight. He remembered Gary getting attacked by someone, someone who drew blood. A homeless man? A mugger maybe? He couldn't be sure. He didn't remember what happened next but it was safe to assume that he and the other members of Bravo immediately responded in kind. The rest of the night was blurred, in his near but not quite sober state of mind he concluded that they had probably brought newbie back to the sick bay, dropped him off with their best poker faces, and shambled back to their rooms for the rest of the night.

Darren turned the sink off and exited the bathroom, grabbing a random shirt from his bedroom and putting it on as he walked down the hall. The apartments were small, cookie cutter things, and housed the families of those stationed on Alexander. They consisted of a kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a sitting room. They were far from fancy but most people ignored their modest homes for the fact they were in Paris. Darren didn't care one way or the other. It was a roof. The apartment building was about a five minute walk from the actual base, which was spitting distance from the school. Darren walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He got out a glass and drank three glasses of water from the tap quickly. He put the cup on the counter and stared at his reflection in the window above the sink. He looked dark, a little distorted and a little creepy due to his bed hair and bloodshot eyes. Almost like a corpse. He debated on whether or not he should go back to sleep but ultimately realized he was awake and hung over or not, he wasn't going back to sleep any time soon. He grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and trudged into the living room. He had seen the sitting rooms of other peoples apartments. They had been decorated with pictures of family, knick-knacks, lamps, and other useless things. Darren's apartment was empty save for a single sofa, a coffee table, and a television in the living room and then a bed and a set of drawers in his bedroom. On the coffee table was an ash tray, a pack of cigarettes, lighter, the remote to the television, and a picture frame that had been turned down. Darren sat down on the couch and opened the can of soda. He drank half it down and picked up the pack of cigarettes and lighter. He lit one and turned on the television, staring blankly at the screen, not really paying attention to what was on. He sat there for a few minutes, in the darkness, smoking his cigarette and staring into space. He had just snuffed out the first cigarette in the ashtray when he heard a bang from behind the wall of his neighbor. He muted the television, turned his head around, and stared at the wall. A few silent seconds ticked by, and then whoever was on the other side banged again.

He stood up and walked over to the wall and knocked on it gently. Silence. Another bang, a little louder than the first two.

"Barbra?" Darren called quietly. "Something wrong?"

There was no reply. It was quiet for a second and then Darren nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud scream that started quiet and then built up in volume followed by a barrage of banging noises on the other side of the wall. He quickly left his apartment and stood in the third floor hallway of the apartment building. The lights were on but the hallway was quiet. He walked up to Barbra's door and knocked loudly.

"Barb!" He called. "Open up! What's wrong?"

He banged louder.

"Barb!"

"Darren?" A voice asked behind him. "What the hell are you doing son?"

Darren turned around and saw Harvey, the husband of one of the women of Fort Alexander. He was wearing pajamas and looked irritated.

"It's Barbra." Darren explained quickly. "I heard her banging and screaming in there!"

"What?" Harvey asked.

He was answered by another scream behind the door.

"Kick it down!" Harvey said immediately.

Darren nodded and the two of them kicked the door until it splintered, which wasn't that difficult of a feat in all honesty. A bare footed Darren and house slippered Harvey managed to get it down in two good kicks. Down the hall they could see Barbra standing there in the darkness, her silhouette looking ghostly in the pale blue light from the television behind her. She was wearing a night gown and her head was slouched forward.

"Barb?" Harvey called. "Are you okay?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Darren saw a few more people emerging from their rooms looking confused and alarmed. Harvey took a single step towards the door and Barbra broke into a full run, screaming like a banshee. She leapt onto Harvey and bit into his neck, spattering the wall behind him with blood. Darren's world seemed to slow down. People screamed and began to panic as Harvey fell to the ground with Barbra on top of him, her snarling and tearing into him like some kind of monster. Darren just stood there watching as the light left Harvey's eyes and his life's blood began to pool around him, ruining the carpet in the hallway and soaking around Darren's bare toes.

Someone's scream brought Darren back. He turned around and ran down the hall towards the elevators as a few people behind him tried to pull Barbra off of Harvey. She bit and snapped at them, leaping on another man and pinning him against the wall with a strength that wasn't her own. Darren ran into the elevator and pressed the call button, patiently waiting for the lift as people behind him were torn in two. It arrived and he stepped inside. He pressed the button that would take him to the lobby and he saw Harvey rise up to a sitting position. He stared at Darren blankly before he was trampled by three panicking people who ran towards the elevator. One teenaged girl Darren recognized because she had "subtly" flirted with him his sophomore year. She reached out and cried for help. Darren stared at her blankly and didn't move as the elevator doors closed shut, severing the girls arm just above the elbow. She screamed in agony as the doors closed and her dead limb fell to the floor. Darren could here a muzak version of some pop song playing over the speakers in the elevator but apart from that all he could hear was his own shaky breathing. He glanced down at the severed arm and saw the fingers twitch slightly.

"Sorry." He said quietly, his face and voice blank.

His hand nervously felt around his pockets, searching for his phone. He cursed when he realized he had left it in his room. He slumped against the wall of the lift and held his head in his hands.

"What the fuck?" He whispered to himself. "What the _fuck!_"

_Drunk. _He thought. _I'm drunk. Passed out. Sleeping. Nightmare._

He slapped himself across the face as hard as he could.

"Wake up!" He snapped at himself. "Wake the fuck up!"

He closed his eyes tightly and slapped himself a few more times. He opened them and saw he was still in the elevator.

"Fuck me." He breathed shakily.

The elevator reached the bottom floor and the door slid open. Darren could see body of an eviscerated woman in the middle of the lobby. Crouched over her was a man and a little girl, maybe four years old, devouring hunks out of her chest cavity. They looked up at Darren and snarled cruelly. Darren stepped out of the elevator and cursed as they stood up. He could see the door behind them but he could also see a more of those things shamble out of the wood work. He grabbed a garbage can next to the elevator doors and hurled it at the man and girl. It was light enough to toss but heavy enough to knock them both down. Darren rushed past them before they could get back up and ran for the front door. He slid to a halt and cursed at the sight of another one of _them_ in the small room separated by the two sets of doors. He was half naked, chewing on the flesh of his own arm.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Darren growled.

He heard the things behind him moan as they started to rise to their feet. To his right was a hallway that Darren knew would lead to a fire exit. He broke into a run, hoping that it was clear. If it wasn't and those things behind him caught up with him, he'd be boxed in with nowhere to run. He turned a corner and spotted the fire exit at the end of the hall. Between him and it was several of those things trudging around stupidly and bumping into walls.

"Shit!" Darren exclaimed desperately. "Give me a fucking break!"

Suddenly the fire exit blew open and something bounced into the room. It clattered on the ground a few feet away from Darren and in the middle of the group of the undead. It was sort of shaped like the smoke grenades they used in the paint ball exercises but Darren noticed it was different.

"Flash b-?"

He gasped and quickly dropped to his knees, covered his ears and clenched his eyes shut. There was a burst of blindingly bright white light and a deafening boom that seemed to last less than a second before Darren succumbed to darkness and silence. All he could hear was a high ringing. He blinked his eyes multiple times before his vision slowly began to clear. He could see blurred flashes of light and blurry images drop to the ground. He fell over on his side and stared at the swirling shapes around him. His hearing started to come back but it sounded like he was under water. He rolled over on his back and saw someone standing above him. It was his father. Sergeant First Class Thomas Colt. He was wearing full combat gear and wielding an M16A4 assault rifle. His father's mouth moved but Darren couldn't hear him. He said something again. He gritted his teeth and aimed his rifle down at his son. Darren heard the world return to him in an uncomfortable flash. Darren realized he had been screaming after the flash bang grenade went off.

"Say something god damn it!" His father said darkly.

"I- I- I-'m okay." Darren stammered.

His father reached down and pulled his son up with one arm. Darren looked around wildly and saw that all of the people in the hallway had been killed. Colt's second in command Staff Sergeant Rayfield was walking amongst the dead with his service pistol out, shooting all of them in the head.

"You okay killer?" He asked as he holstered his handgun.

"I think so." Darren said a little louder than he intended. "Yeah." He said normally.

Darren looked around, his eyes wild. He blinked a few times and turned to his dad.

"Dad, what the fuck is going on?" He asked.

"Don't talk to me like that." His father said loading a fresh clip into his rifle.

"What the fuck is going on _sir_?" Darren asked through gritted teeth.

"We're under attack." His father said darkly.

"First it was the people in sick bay, they started going nuts and killing each other." Rayfield said. "Then the front gates got over run by these bleeding mother fuckers acting like they're possessed. There were riots a few hours ago in the city. Guess we're involved now."

"We're rendezvousing with what's left of the platoon at the mess hall." Colt said. "Come on."

The three of them left the building and the two soldiers led Darren across the front lawn of the apartment complex, past a respectable looking war memorial and past a playground were children used to play during the summer. Darren saw a swing move eerily in the cold night air and swore he saw... something he recognized. He blinked and whatever it was was gone and he felt the ice cold needles of fear prick into his flesh.

In the distance at the base Darren heard automatic weapons fire and could see the bright white lights illuminate the fort. From here he could see the battle raging but couldn't fully appreciate it until they arrived. There were dozens of bodies on the ground. Some living, some dead, and some wounded, screaming in pain as they clutched bleeding stumps. It was a full scale battle. Weapons fired and the muzzle flashes illuminated the night sky like fireworks. Grenades exploded spraying debris and shrapnel in every direction. Above him were helicopters and he could see sand bags stacked up and men with machine guns firing into crowds of those things behind them. Darren had never seen anything like it. Seeing it in person wasn't anything like a history book or a television show. This was real and he was witnessing it.

"Come on!" Colt yelled.

Darren jogged to catch up with them. They ducked behind an abandoned Abram's tank and Rayfield looked over the top to check for enemies.

"Mostly clear." He said.

Colt touched a finger to his headset.

"Alpha six this is Alpha one actual. Respond."

"We're here sir." A voice replied. "What do you need?"

"We're out front behind the tank. We need covering fire so we can make it to the mess hall."

"Roger sir. Ready to fire on your mark."

"You ready?" Colt asked.

Darren nodded and Rayfield shouldered his rifle.

"Now!"

Out of the window of the mess hall, a gunner stuck out his SAW and opened fire, spraying the shambling horrors outside with lead. The three broke into a run going around the side. The side door opened and the three of them ran inside, a pair of soldiers closed the door behind them.

"Corporal. Sit rep." Rayfield said walking up to a wounded soldier holding a shotgun and wearing no body armor.

"Numbers are scattered. Most of everyone is either dead or... one of those things out there. Second platoon is pinned down in the east barracks and the radio tower's been sabotaged." The corporal replied.

"Sabotaged?" Darren asked. "How?"

"Think the technical term would be blown the fuck up." The corporal replied.

"Friendly fire?" Colt asked.

"Could be." A private said. "A squad went in there to send a distress signal but then the whole place went up like a roman fucking candle."

"Where's the colonel?" Rayfield asked.

"He was leading the squad personally sir."

"Where's the rest of the platoon?" Colt asked looking at all the soldiers.

"Pinned down in the garage sir." The Corporal replied.

"Right." Colt said. "Here's what were going to-"

He was cut off as the ground around them shook violently. Everyone was knocked to the ground as the front of the building exploded and the soldier that had been firing his machine gun exploded in a burst of flames and shrapnel. The shock wave from the explosion caused the remaining windows in the mess hall to explode.

"God damn it!" Rayfield yelled.

"Mother fucking Apaches!" A soldier yelled.

"Sound off!" Colt yelled helping Darren to his feet.

A couple of soldiers shouted replies to confirm they were alive but many were laying on the ground, dead from the rocket blast.

"Apache-421!" Colt yelled into his head set. "Hold your god damn fire on the mess hall! Danger close! I repeat danger close!"

There was another explosion as the building next to them was hit by a rocket and became engulfed in flames.

"What the fuck?" A soldier yelled.

"Everyone get the fuck out of here!" Colt yelled.

The few remaining soldiers ran outside of the mess hall and saw the Apache helicopter rotating out of control, blindly firing its weapons. A rocket hit a sniper tower taking out several lights and whoever was unfortunate enough to be inside. Another rocket hit the east barracks, another the school until finally the helicopter crashed into the mess hall and exploded. Darren could have sworn he saw something leap off of the chopper just before it crashed and disappear in the shadows.

"Everyone! Get to the fucking garage! Double time! We are LEAVING!" Colt roared.

Everyone broke into a run, avoiding gunfire, the occasional grenade explosion and the swarms of those things. As they ran Darren saw something flitting around them, jumping from the roofs of the buildings and ducking behind debris. In the darkness he couldn't make out what it was but it was fast. Too fast. He heard someone scream and fall to the ground dead, their chest cavity cut cleanly open. Another scream and the corporal was pulled into the dark doorway of a building they passed.

"D-Dad!" Darren cried in warning.

"Keep moving!" His father yelled.

Up ahead Darren could see the garage. It was a huge building were tanks and hummers were stored along with crate of ammo and other weapons.

"Alpha twelve this is Alpha one actual come in!" Colt yelled into his head set as he fired upon of a group of shambling assailants.

"Reading you sir!"

"Get a transport ready! We're en route to the garage! We're almost there! We are getting the fuck out of here!"

"No complaints here sir!"

"Come on!" A soldier in the garage yelled. "Get that mother fucker ready!"

An engineer was working on a large truck that would provide enough room for everyone to escape.

"I'm fucking trying!" The engineer yelled. "You wanna try working with half your goddamned hand missing? Huh?"

"If you don't work faster we're all going to be fucking corpses okay?" Another soldier yelled.

Suddenly the light above them moved back and forth.

"What the hell?"

The engineer looked up and screamed as a dark shadowy mass dropped on him.

Over his head set Colt could here the soldiers in the garage scream in horror. He heard gunfire and within seconds there was nothing but silence.

"Dog twelve? Dog twelve! Duff?" Colt yelled. "Fuck!"

They came to the garage. The long metal door was closed. Colt and Rayfield worked quickly to pull it open, just enough for them to slip inside. Rayfield closed the door behind them and quickly slid a lock into place. The garage looked like a bloody whirlwind had torn through it. The soldiers that were inside had been ripped apart. Spent brass and limbs littered the ground and blood had been spattered all over the nearby area, covering vehicles and crates in blood and gore. A few of the lights above them were even covered in blood, turning the room a dark crimson color.

"Sound off." Colt said quietly.

"Here." Rayfield said darkly.

Darren said nothing but looked behind him. The three of them were the only ones that made it to the garage.

"Come on." Colt said. "Let's grab a hummer and-"

Darren saw something drop behind Rayfield. He started to yell a warning but didn't have the time to form words. A long thin blade ruptured through Rayfield's chest, a blade made from black, shiny looking metal. He gagged on his own blood and the blade slashed upwards, nearly slicing him in half. Colt let out a roar of anger as the thing behind Rayfield leapt out of the line of fire, leaping on the pile of crate and leaping onto the metal rafters on the ceiling. Colt sprayed his entire magazine into the darkness of the ceiling, shooting out several lights. The thing shrieked as a few bullets tore into its body. Darren saw the thing preform a leap unlike any he had ever seen. It jumped across the room and shattered a window on the ceiling, scuttling out of the garage. Colt thumbed the release on his rifle and let the empty magazine fall to the floor with a clatter. He reached for another clip but growled in anger when he felt his pouch was empty.

"Come on!" Colt said dropping the rifle and grabbing his son. "Before the thing comes back!"

They ran to a hummer and climbed inside. They slammed the doors and Colt started the ignition. In the rear view mirror, Darren saw the thing again. The thing he thought he had seen in the park. For a split second he thought he saw a small pale face staring at him from the back seat. He whipped around and instead saw a blood covered soldier staring at him red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. It let out a low growl and lurched forward just as Darren let out a scream of fear. Colt reacted quickly, getting between his son and the thing. He felt a surge of pain as its teeth buried into his neck and bit into his flesh. Darren punched the thing three times in the face before it released his father and fell back in the seat. Colt drew his sidearm and fired it into the things forehead. Darren gasped and clutched his ears which were now ringing again from the gunshot. It was not as bad as it was from the flash/bang but it still caught him off guard. Colt opened the door to the vehicle and fell out onto the ground clenching his wound. Darren got out after him, his ears still ringing slightly. He walked around the side of the hummer and dropped down next to his dad.

"Come on!" He said. "We gotta get the hell out of here!"

"No." Colt said. "Not me."

"What the fuck are you talking about! It's not that bad!"

"These bites." His father said gritting his teeth. "They do something to you. Make you crazy like those fuckers out there. I can feel it. It burns like hellfire."

"Dad-"

His father pointed at Rayfield's remains.

"Get his ammo." He said.

Darren nodded and stumbled over to Rayfield's body. He started to pick up his rifle but saw that the thing, whatever it was, had punctured the weapons receiver with its blade, making the weapon useless. Darren cursed and began to take the handgun magazines from Rayfield blood soaked vest. He returned to his father with them.

"Take them. You got about ninety rounds plus what's in this." He said handing his son the handgun. "Get out of here. Head into the city. Get to Kadic. If things get worse that's were the evacuation procedures will start for civilians."

"Dad, I'm not just going to leave you here with those things." Darren argued.

"I gave you a goddamned order!" His father snapped. "Fucking do it!"

Darren didn't say anything.

"Do you remember everything we talked about? Everything I taught you?"

Darren nodded.

"Good. Take the back door and hop the fence." Colt said.

Darren stood and stuck the extra clips into his pockets, keeping the handgun drawn.

"Dad I-"

"Go."

Darren walked forward, stepped over his father and walked towards the back door without looking back. He closed the door behind him and vaulted over the rail landing on the ground. He saw a stack of crates by the fence and began climbing them. He ignored the barbed wire and let himself drop over the other side of the fence. He rose to his feet and began walking towards the city.

Inside the garage Colt propped himself up against a hummer. The light above him swayed back and forth and he heard a low growling somewhere in the building. He pulled a grenade off of his belt and clenched it in his fist.

"Come on you son of a bitch." He muttered, his voice slurred from blood loss.

The hummer bounced up and down slightly as something landed on the hood of the car behind him. Colt grinned wickedly and pulled the pin.


	11. Sweetbreads

Scenario 10: Sweetbreads

The group returned to Ms. Hertz's classroom. Aelita fetched a first aid kit inside Ms. Hertz's desk and began helping Ulrich and Tina patch up Yumi and Darren's wounds. There was nothing seriously wrong with either of them. Most of their pains came from the fatigue of having ran halfway across the city. Yumi had a few bad scrapes on her legs from where she had fallen earlier and Darren still had the nasty cut on his cheek that Mrs. Ishiyama had given him. His knuckles had seen better days as well. Ulrich helped Yumi on top of the Ms. Hertz's desk and she gingerly rolled up the legs of her pants to reveal the multitude of scratches and bruises. Tina sat Darren down in Ms. Hertz's chair and took a handful of gauze bandages from Ulrich with a word of thanks.

"What happened?" Tina asked. "Where's Chris and the others?"

"They weren't with me when I escaped Alexander." Darren said as she poured a generous amount of antiseptic onto the bandage. "I don't know where they are."

"Was the fort really that bad?" William asked.

"Worse." Darren replied as he wiped the dried blood from his face with a bandage. "The fort looked like hell itself had clawed its way out of the ground."

"What the hell is going on?" Yumi asked looking at Ulrich.

"You... haven't heard anything?" Ulrich asked lowering the box of band aids he was applying to her smaller scratches.

"I've been running all day." Yumi said. "Both of us. I was at my house and..."

She stopped.

"Those things attacked." She said finally. "I was about to be torn apart and then Darren showed up and saved me. What the hell are those things? What's wrong with those people?"

"Well in a word?" Odd asked sitting on a stool next to Yumi. "Zombies."

"What!" Yumi exclaimed nearly knocking the box of bandages from Ulrich's hand.

Ulrich growled under his breath and mentally praised Odd for his tactfulness. Yumi looked at Ulrich questioningly, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Y-yeah." He said. "That's- That's pretty much it."

"What Odd means." Jeremie began. "Is something is causing the corpses of the recently dead to re-animate."

"The dead are coming back to life and attacking the living." Aelita said. "The CDC has been trying to find an answer but so far they haven't come up with anything. The last thing we heard was that whatever this is is transferred through contact with infected blood. Bites and scratches won't infect you in and of themselves but the blood is highly contagious."

Yumi looked down at her hands and clothes in fear.

"D-don't worry!" Aelita said quickly. "The virus replicates very rapidly. If you were infected you probably would have turned by now. The shortest time that had been reported was a matter of seconds while the longest was two hours."

"I feel like I'm going to be sick." Yumi muttered lifting herself off the table.

"I'll take you to the bathroom." Ulrich offered.

Yumi smiled at him and nodded weakly. He helped her out of the classroom and down the hall to the girl's restroom. After they had left Tina turned to Darren and passed him another length of bandages.

"Darren? Where's the Sarge?" Tina asked fearing she already knew the answer.

"KIA." He muttered as he began wrapping his battered knuckles.

"Sorry." She said quietly.

Darren didn't say anything. The police radio on his belt crackled to life and a faint voice laced with static could be heard on the other end.

"-ren? Da- -ren? -ome in! Hello?"

Darren stood up and grimaced at a pain in his side. He took the radio off of his belt and began fiddling with the dials trying to get a stronger signal.

"We can try the roof." Jeremie said standing up.

Darren nodded.

Everyone exited the teacher's lounge and took the stairs up to the roof. Immediately the radio cleared up and Darren put it to his ear.

"This is Darren dispatch go ahead."

"Thank god!" Jillian exclaimed into her head set. "I lost visual on CCTV when you entered the school! Are you guys all right?"

"We're fine." Darren replied. "We made it into the school and we've met up with about a dozen other survivors."

"That's great news!" Jillian smiled.

"That won't mean much if we are stuck here by ourselves." Jeremie said. "What's the situation on your end?"

"The GIGN managed to get a foot hold." Jillian replied acknowledging the new voice. "They're launching a counter assault against the Burners and are going to clear the area for the army to move in. Once that's out of the way the GIGN will start making their way to Kadic. We may not have to evacuate at all. Just hold out long enough for the army to arrive and start working on cleaning up the city. Just hold out a little longer guys." She said.

"Roger that dispatch. Out." Darren said.

He turned off the radio and handed it to Jeremie to hold onto.

"So this is good news right?" Sam asked looking over at Odd. "All we have to do is stay up here and wait it out."

Odd smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah babe. We just got to keep our heads down."

The sun finally set and darkness fell over the city. The air was cold and the light of the pale moon was obscured by clouds. Over the distant sound of sirens and gunfire, the deep rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Storms coming." Jeremie said. "Let's head back inside."

Everyone turned to leave but Tina stayed. She looked over the city, nervously biting her lower lip out of worry for her brother.

"Come on." Darren said behind her. "We don't need to be out here anymore."

"Do you think he's okay?" Tina asked.

She felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him.

"He's fine. He won't die until I tell him to."

Tina half smiled and followed Darren downstairs.

Back down in the teacher's lounge they had found a case of water bottles and a box of fruit bars in a cupboard along with some old coffee filters.

"Strawberry." Odd said mournfully staring at the fruit bar Sam had given him. "It would be strawberry. Leave it to the world to end before lunch time."

"Sorry Hun. If you want you can jog on down to the cafeteria. See if there's any left overs." Sam said with a sarcastically.

"Oh she's funny." Odd muttered tearing the wrapper off of the snack and eating half of it with one bite.

"Here's your sword by the way." Terry said handing Ulrich his wakizashi.

"Oh thanks." Ulrich said taking it.

"I got some other stuff too." Terry said unzipping the duffel bag he had brought from the dorms. "I don't know if I got everything though. I just grabbed what was on the wall."

"That was everything." Ulrich said. "I appreciate it."

"No problem. You have a respectable collection."

Ulrich smiled as he started looking through his small arsenal of martial arts weapons.

"Wasn't sure what that was though." Terry said pointing to a small rectangular object with a Velcro strap.

"It's a holster for the shuriken." Ulrich explained. "can hold up to twenty."

"Cool."

"You weren't half bad with the sword." Ulrich remarked as he began loading the sharp four pointed stars into the holster.

"Yeah. I was a member of the kendo club at my old school. I was going to be the chairman until my dad got a transfer.

Ulrich nodded.

"I tried to talk Jim into starting one a few months ago."

"Yeah." Terry nodded. "Yeah I remember. I signed the form that was tacked on the wall in front of the gym. Apparently not enough people were into it."

"The only reason the Pencak Silat club is still active is because of Yumi and me." Ulrich said. "How come you never joined?"

"Just not my style." Terry said with a smug grin. "I was always more into Kung Fu."

"Tell you what." Ulrich said.

He unsheathed the sword and inspected the blade. It had a few noticeable nicks from hitting bone but other wise wasn't damaged that much. The strokes Terry made when fighting were, for the most part, precise and true.

"You hold onto the sword. I'm good with the bat. And take a pair of the nunchaku if you can use them. Everyone should be carrying a weapon of some kind."

"Really?" Terry asked. "Thanks. I'll take good care of them."

"Can I take one of those knives?" Desmond asked.

"Yeah sure. Go ahead." Ulrich nodded handing Desmond one of the longer throwing knives.

" 'Ey, oo." Odd said to Desmond through a mouthful of food.

Desmond looked over at him questioningly, not sure what Odd had said.

Odd swallowed and continued.

"Did you happen to see my dog when you were in our dorm room?"

"No sorry." Desmond replied shaking his head. "We didn't really have time to look though. We just grabbed what we could."

"Aw man." Odd said his face darkening with worry.

"I'm sure Kiwi's fine Odd." Aelita said patting his shoulder. "He's smart. He's probably hiding out somewhere. We'll find him."

"I can't stand the thought of my little diggity dog out there alone! I need to feed him! He's too small to take care of himself!"

"I'm more concerned with getting food for us." Jeremie said. "We need supplies. The army may be on its way but we don't know how long we might be stuck here."

"There's a vending machine on the first floor!" Odd said sitting up straight. "We could run down there and clear it out!"

"Is that a good idea?" Desmond asked. "It's dark after all. We don't know what could be stumbling around down there."

"I got a flashlight." Darren said. "We should clear the building anyway."

He looked over to Ulrich.

"How many rounds do you have left?"

"About ten or so."

"Okay." Daren nodded.

He had been cleaning the SIG Pro as best as he could and finally got it working again. He racked the slide and left the handgun on the coffee table having split the last magazine between the SIG and his M9.

"We'll take the guns as back up but don't use them if you can help it."

"Who's all going?" Ulrich asked. "We need to keep it small. No more than five."

"Me!" Odd exclaimed hopping up. "They had better restocked the honey rolls or there will be hell to pay!"

"I'll go." William said.

"I'll tag along." Sam added.

"You sure?" Odd asked.

"Yeah. It's no big deal. Someone needs to watch your ass." She said.

"Okay. Let's go." Darren said.

The hallways of Kadic were dark and eerie. Ulrich and the others had wandered around the campus at night all the time after lights out but never really had a reason to explore the science department. He and Darren were in the front of the group, Darren holding his knife and flashlight akimbo, carefully scanning the halls for any sign of the walking dead. Behind them were Odd, William and Sam, weapons drawn and on the alert.

"School always creeped me out during the day." Odd said in a hushed whisper. "This is something like a nightmare."

Darren hushed him quietly. He held up the hand he held the knife in, keeping his flashlight aimed at a doorway just down the hall.

"Thought I heard something." He said in a quiet voice.

He motioned for them to follow him and they quietly approached the door. When they got within arms reach a dark figure leapt out of the shadows and snarled at them. It was a six year girl with long dark hair still wearing her pajamas. Darren quickly buried his knife into her chest and pinned her against the wall. Ulrich slammed his bat down on her head and caved in her skull.

"I knew her." He said quietly as Darren pulled the knife free and let her limp body slide to the floor. "She was nice."

"Not anymore." Darren said wiping the blade clean on his jeans.

They continued down the hall and cleared every class room they passed. Then the next floor and finally they reached the ground floor.

"Vending machines are right in the middle of the hall." Odd said.

"Let's just take it nice and slow." Ulrich said. "If we die over a damned snack cake I'll kill you Odd."

They moved down the hall as quietly as they could.

"Silent as the grave." Sam remarked quietly.

It was true. The entire building was as quite as a graveyard. It was an eerie silence as opposed to a comforting one. Finally they came to the vending machine. Inside was a single light bulb that illuminated the contents inside, shining like a beacon in the stark darkness.

"Oh thank god!" Odd said quietly jogging up to the machine.

"Pies! Ulrich!" He whispered excitedly. "They got pies! I heard they were going to start stocking them but-"

"Shh!" Ulrich hissed. "Just get the damned food!"

Odd reached into his pocket and began fumbling around for his money.

"Shit." He gasped.

"Don't tell me..." Ulrich muttered angrily.

"Sam do you-"

"No." She said stiffly. "You still owe me for dinner last week."

"Gah!" Odd moaned.

"Darren you have any cash?" Ulrich asked.

Darren shook his head.

"Why don't we just smash it?" Odd asked desperately. "I mean, there's no point in asking politely and we need all the food we can get."

"Fine." Ulrich said. "Just be quick."

Odd picked up a fire extinguisher on the wall and slammed it into the glass as hard as he could. The glass shattered and fell to the ground making a loud clinking sound.

"Ha! Now-"

Suddenly an alarm went off from the vending machine, a loud ringing that rivaled a fire alarm.

"The fuck?" Odd exclaimed.

"A burglar alarm! Seriously?" Sam cried.

"Who wires a vending machine!" William yelled.

"Just unplug the damn thing!" Darren yelled.

Ulrich fumbled behind the machine and yanked the cord out of the wall. The siren died down instantly but the damage had been done. Down the hall they heard the sounds of the damned things shrieking like mad. Darren shined the flashlight down where they had come from and saw several shapes moving in the darkness.

Ulrich cursed as Odd began grabbing as many snacks as he could carry.

"Just grab what you can!" Ulrich said. "Come on!"

They broke into a run down the opposite way.

"Damn damn damn!" Odd yelled as they ran through the shadows.

"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" Darren roared.

"We gotta get to the stairs!" Sam yelled.

"No!" Ulrich argued. "If we go up the stairs we'll lead them to the others!"

"What then!" Sam asked desperately.

"We go back outside!" Ulrich said.

"What?"

Ulrich led them down the hall until they reached the set of heavy double doors that led back out to the school grounds. He shoved them open and kicked the door stop down to keep the door open. The black sky lit up for a brief second as a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky.

"Come on! We can run to the gym from here!" Ulrich said.

"Lead the way!" Darren called over the roar of thunder.

A zombie a few feet away charged at them and Darren rammed his knife into the monster's throat. He gave the blade a sharp twist and nearly decapitated the creature. The group ran as fast as they could, leading the things behind them away from the classroom building.

"This way!" Ulrich yelled holding the gym door open.

The others darted through and Ulrich left the door open for those things to follow them. They ran through the gymnasium, their shoes squeaking loudly on the waxed wooden floor. Another flash of light came from the windows outside and illuminated the interior of the gym. Ulrich could make out three bodies laying on the ground. There may have been more but he couldn't tell.

"Jim's office! There's a door that leads outside!" Ulrich called.

"Damn it!" Darren yelled shining the light behind him.

In the door way were several of the creatures, growling and snarling like animals. The few bodies on the ground stirred and started to get up. Darren sheathed his knife and drew his handgun. He fired three shots, dropping two zombies. Ulrich drew his and fired two, hitting one zombie in the head and another in the chin.

"Into the office!" Ulrich called. "This way!"

They followed Ulrich into Jim's small office and shut the door behind them. Odd and William shoved their weight into the door as it began to rattle and shake. Darren and Ulrich grabbed a weight bench and shoved it in front of the door, letting Odd and William move out of the way.

"We good?" Odd asked.

"Yeah." Ulrich replied gasping for breath. "Yeah I think we-"

The small glass window on the door shattered and a gray skinned, blood covered hand reached through and grabbed a hold of Odd.

"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU-" Odd cried in fear.

Darren pulled out his gun and started to aim.

"Can't get a shot!" He yelled.

There was a whiz of air and an arrow planted itself in the zombies forehead just above its right eye. It let out a gurgled death rattle and released Odd before falling backwards away from the window.

"What the- who?"

Odd looked up at Sam who was holding one of the wooden long bows used by the archery team.

"S-Sam? How?" Odd gaped.

"I took the gold medal for archery at summer camp." She explained. "Four years in a row."

"Fucking A." Odd smiled in relief as Ulrich pulled him to his feet.

Sam picked up a quiver containing several more arrows and slung it over her shoulder.

"Let's go." Ulrich said.

They left Jim's office through the side door and crept back up to the front of the gymnasium. There Ulrich closed the doors careful not to draw the attention of the zombies still inside. Relieved to be in one piece the group then made their way to the teacher's lounge in the science building.

"How'd it go?" Yumi asked as they came back.

Odd turned out the pockets of his hoodie and an avalanche of sweets and other assorted junk food rained down from his arms. He reached down and grabbed a snack cake, eagerly tearing off the paper with his teeth. He took a massive bite that left only a tiny crescent behind.

"Oh 'eah." He said nodding at Darren. "Otally 'orth eh."


	12. Cardio

Scenario 11: Cardio

Chris awoke in a daze. His head felt as if it had been split in half and he could feel blood oozing out of a wound on his forehead. He groaned and blinked his eyes, trying to bring a blurry world into focus.

"No way." He muttered as his vision cleared.

He was hanging upside down. His seat belt in the GIGN armored van had held fast and somehow the vehicle had rolled over onto its back.

"Aw shit." He groaned.

Across from him, hanging limply from his seat was a GIGN officer, his neck bent at an unusual angle. Chris cursed under his breath and began fumbling with his seat belt. It came undone with a soft click and he fell to the ground, banging his head on the hard metal roof. He gasped in pain rolled over onto his back. He tilted his head back and saw that the doors of the van were hanging open. Outside the sky was dark and he could feel a cold breeze blowing in. Laying on the ground was a road flare, its harsh red light shining brightly in the darkness. Though his vision was blurry he could just make out the form of a GIGN captain pacing back and forth while talking into a radio in rapid french. Sitting on the ground, with his back against the door frame was another officer, his arm was bleeding and Chris could just make out a bit of bone sticking from under the officer's shirt.

"Merde!" The officer muttered through clenched teeth as he fumbled with a bloody cloth, trying to keep the wound from bleeding.

"Fichu!" The captain yelled throwing the radio to the ground. "Le temps est de jouer avec le signal!"

"Qu'allons-nous faire maintenant?" The wounded officer asked the captain.

"Je ne sais pas!" The Captain spat angrily.

He sighed and looked over to the right towards the city.

"Je ne sais pas."

Suddenly, a loud monstrous roar filled the air. The GIGN officers jumped and fumbled for their weapons. The officer raised his rifle and flipped the safety off.

"Elle revient! Merde! Merde!" The injured officer cried as he fumbled for his side arm.

The ground began to shake like an earthquake. The Captain screamed and opened fire with his automatic rifle at something that Chris could not see. There was a blur of red movement as something slammed into the captain and sent him flying through the air. The captain screamed as he flew and there was a crunch and then silence. The second officer screamed as the lumbering terror approached him. He finally got his pistol out of his holster and managed to fire off two shots before the thing picked him up and lifted him high over its head. The officer screamed and kicked as the monster tore him in half, the officer's scarlet blood poured over the monster's body like a rainstorm. The thing dropped the two pieces of cop and roared into the sky. It then cast its eyes down on the van where Chris was laying and watching in silent horror. Chris blinked furiously, trying to clear his vision and he felt around the ground looking for anything he could use as a weapon. He closed his fingers around what felt like a police baton. He turned around expecting to see a large hand reaching out to take him but there was nothing. The hulking horror had vanished, leaving him alone in the darkness and silence. He sat there for several minutes, unsure of what to do next.

"Fuck it." He thought bitterly. "If I'm gonna die, sure as shit ain't gonna be in here."

He carefully crawled out of the back of the van, taking care to avoid the small shards of glass that littered the ground like confetti. He made it outside and stood up, grimacing as his back popped in several places. He looked around trying to get an idea of where they had crashed.

"How the hell did we crash?" He thought. "What happened?"

He closed his eyes trying to think back. He had escaped Alexander with many other survivors and then the blockade got over run by those things and he cut and ran. He met a squad of GIGN officers, they took him in and one of them spoke a little English.

"Kadic." Chris said to himself. "He said Kadic. Tina..."

He heard a pathetic fizzing sound and saw that the road flare was beginning to die. He looked around and staggered over to an olive green duffel bag he spotted laying on the ground a few feet away. It was the bag he had hastily packed before he left the fort. He kneeled down next to the bag and saw that it was open. A box of emergency flares had been torn into and one was missing.

"Could have asked." Chris muttered as he pulled out another flare and ignited it.

He began looking through the contents of his bag, holding the flare high above his head for light. He pulled out a blue bandana and tied it around his head to keep his long blonde hair out of his eyes and to keep pressure on his head wound. He then rummaged a little more and pulled out a Glock 30 with an Olive Drab finish. It was Darren's gun. Darren's father kept it in the barracks in a lock box. Chris had found his way into the barracks and made quick work of the lock figuring he would need the fire power. He pulled out an extra magazine and slipped it into his pocket. He walked over to the corpse of the first officer and knelt down next to him.

"Sorry 'bout this." Chris said.

He aimed at the officer's forehead and pulled the trigger. The bullet blasted open the officer's head like an egg. He tucked the pistol away and began search the wet remains of the officer's corpse. He unclipped a radio from the officer's vest and hoped it still worked. He fiddled with a dial and pressed the call button.

"Hello?" He said quietly. "Is there anybody out there?"

"Hello?" The radio crackled. "Is there anybody out there?"

The radio was laying on the coffee table in the teachers lounge. Jeremie dove at it and pressed the call button.

"Yes!" He exclaimed. "Yes! Who is this?"

Tina nudged a sleeping Darren in the ribs and his eyes opened, his hand fluttering to his handgun in his lap in alarm. She shook her head and nudged a thumb over to where Jeremie was sitting. Everyone else crowded around Jeremie as he spoke into the radio.

"Who is this?" Jeremie asked.

"My name is Chris." The voice replied. "I'm a survivor from Fort Alexander. Who is th-"

Tina jerked the radio from Jeremie's hand.

"Chris? Chris is that really you?"

"Tina! You're safe!" Chris breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried sick about you!"

"I thought you were dead!" Tina cried.

"It's okay. I'm okay." Chris said. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm at Kadic. Darren's here along with several of my classmates." Tina explained. "Where the fuck are you?"

"Uh..." Chris looked around though it was too dark to see anything. Many streetlights were out and the flare wasn't much for light. "Give me a second."

He walked around the immediate area, looking for any street signs to tell him exactly where he was. He inspected the remains of the GIGN captain and saw that he had been hurled into a tall iron fence. His body had slammed into a wooden sign with enough force to splinter it but Chris could still make out two words through the smear of blood.

"Kadic Academy." He read aloud.

"Repeat that Chris." Darren's voice came from the radio Chris held in his hand. "We didn't catch that."

"You guys are at Kadic?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think those GIGN boys brought me to your front door." Chris said nudging the captain's body with his foot.

"You're outside?" Tina asked.

"Yeah... Unfortunately." Chris said looking around the darkness.

"Chris, are there any weapons or supplies laying around?" Darren asked.

"One sec."

He pocketed the radio and began looking through the bodies of the officers. The FAMAS that the Captain was using had been ruined when the large thing had slammed into him and Chris sighed as he tossed it away. He rummaged around and tossed anything of use into his duffel bag.

"I'm back." He said into the radio. "There's two handguns and some loose ammo but that's it. These guys were running dry after the blockade got overrun."

"What?" Jeremie asked. "Overrun? When?"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now we need to get you off the street." Ulrich said.

"No shit." Chris said. "What's the plan? Can I just walk in?"

"No. Courtyards full of geeks." Tina said.

"You start your way to the center and we'll meet you in the middle. Be ready for a fight." Darren said.

"Got it." Chris said clicking the safety off of the Glock. "And Darren? Be careful. There's something... big out here."

"Noted." Darren said. "Over and out."

He handed the radio to Jeremie and checked the magazine of his M9.

"We got to hurry!" Tina said. "Those things won't wait long before-"

"You stay here." Darren said. "I'll go meet him. It's too dangerous for you."

"Bullshit!" Tina snapped. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be zombie food right now!"

"I'm aware. And if I had my way you wouldn't have gone then. There's no point in having an entire classroom running around down there making noise and drawing more attention to ourselves than needed."

"Uh, I don't think you need to worry about the _whole_ class going." Odd said.

"And there's no point in you going down there like you're John fucking Rambo and both of you getting your dumb asses killed!" Tina argued.

"She's right." Ulrich said. "It's dangerous to go alone. Besides you helped save one of our friends. We're going to return the favor."

"But your right." Jeremie said. "We need to keep the people on this rescue mission to a minimum. Those things just quieted down. No need to provoke them again."

"I'll go." Ulrich said.

"You can count me in." Terry said.

"Me too." Odd said hopping off of the couch.

"Sam and I will watch the entrance." William said.

"So that makes five." Tina said crossing her arms and looking at Darren.

"Fine." He muttered rolling his eyes. "I don't give a shit. Let's move."

"Good." Tina said as they started out of the room. "You always try to fight me but you know that I-"

_Click._

Tina stood gaping at Darren who had secured one of the links of a pair of handcuffs on her left hand and the other on the handle of the refrigerator.

"Oh you're a dick." Tina growled.

"I'm aware." Darren said tossing the key to Herb. "Don't let her out."

Ignoring the barrage of colorful curse words, they left the teacher's lounge.

"That wasn't very nice." Odd said. "I mean, it's her brother you know? She should be there to help him."

"She'll get over it." Darren said. "We're going to do this quietly. Don't pull the guns unless we have to."

"Fine by me." Terry said placing the sword on his shoulder.

They went down to the first floor. They quietly eliminated a few zombies, managing to remain silent, and avoided drawing attention to the few stragglers further down the hall.

"Okay on three." Darren said as he and Ulrich took positions in front of the doors.

"Three!" He said.

They pushed open the doors and Odd and Terry ran outside. Terry thrust his sword out and impaled a zombie in the eye socket. He withdrew and kicked the body away as Odd bashed a zombie in the forehead with his frying pan. Ulrich cracked another zombie in the skull with his bat and side stepped a blow from a sprinter. He stuck out his foot and tripped it, letting Darren stab it in the chest with his knife. It growled, trying to work up the energy to let out a scream to alert his undead brothers and sisters, its red infected eyes glowed in rage and then glazed over. Daren let the zombie drop to the ground and then he curb stomped it with his boot, preventing it from getting back up.

"Keep moving." He said.

Ulrich nodded and they took off running towards the center of the courtyard.

Chris ran through the dark forest path towards the school grounds. In one hand he clenched a burning flare, in the other a police baton.

_"Shit." _He thought. _"This place is creepy."_

He felt a few rain drops on his bare arms as he ran and he shuddered in the cold night air. Around him he heard the crunching of leaves and twigs. He could see the dark outlines of shapes moving in the darkness. He could hear the moans of those things coming with the wind, as if the darkness itself was coming for him. To strip the flesh from his bones and devour him whole. He saw a figure lurch in front of him and he slid to a halt, his large form slamming into it and knocking it to the ground. The thing moaned and tried to stand back up. It looked up at Chris with its gaze less eyes and let out a low mournful groan. It began to back away as if in fear. Chris started to strike it with the baton but paused. His eyes flickered to the flare and back to the zombie before him.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a smirk. "Afraid of fire ya freak? Huh?"

He kicked the zombie in the throat and continued on his way, grateful that he still had several of the flares in his bag. Up ahead he saw the treeline end and the courtyard of Kadic begin. He stepped out onto the cobblestone ground and saw dozens of shambling horrors lurching around. He could see the outlines of skeletal remains on the ground, a few of which were still moving. A lone shambler staggered towards him, moaning loudly. He lashed out with the baton and caved in its skull. He kicked the zombie away from him and sent it flying into the shadows. The second one that stumbled towards him lost several teeth and got its knee cap shattered with a well placed kick. Chris saw a figure leap over a pile of feeding zombies and sprint towards him. Chris knew what would happen if it let out a shriek. He growled and ran towards the sprinter, tackling it to the ground and shoving his baton into its mouth. It gnawed angrily on the wood, its sharp jagged teeth leaving cruel looking bite marks on the wood. He grabbed it by the hair and bashed its skull into the pavement three times before it stopped moving. Chris stood up and gasped for breath. Up ahead he could see more of those things coming his way.

"Bring it on bitches." He muttered under his breath. "Plenty to go around."

Terry delivered a vertical slash down a zombies chest and round house kicked it into waste bin. It knocked the bin over and rolled away, tripping another zombie in the process. Terry darted forward and jumped off of the tripped zombies skull, impaling the first zombie in the forehead with his blade as he landed. Ulrich jabbed a zombie in the stomach with the tip of his bat and crushed its head with a mighty upward swing. He whirled the bat around and high kicked a second zombie in the chin, shattering the lower half of its rotted skull.

"Don't let those fast ones alert the others!" He called out as loud as he dared. "If they bring the horde down on us we're done for!"

"Yeah whatever you do don't alert the horde!" Odd said with a slight grin as he smashed a zombie in the face.

"I get it!" Terry called over his shoulder.

"Keep moving!" Darren said pulling his knife out of a zombie's gut.

He let the corpse fall to the ground and the group continued running.

Chris struck another flare and held it before him, keeping many of the zombies at bay. He struck down the few soulless brave enough to come near him with his baton and continued through the courtyard. Ahead of him he could see a fountain where many of the undead had gathered to find scraps. Further ahead he could hear what sounded like fighting.

_"Getting close." _He thought.

Sam and William stood by the open doors to the science building.

"Think they can make it?" William asked.

"I know they can." Sam said.

She spotted a shambler staggering towards the door. She quickly strung an arrow and let it fly, catching the zombie just above the temple.

"Nice shot." William said.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement in the trees.

"Did you see that?" He asked quickly shouldering the shotgun.

"What?" Sam asked pulling another arrow.

"Something in the woods." William said. "Stay here."

"Are you crazy? You can't go alone!" Sam hissed.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to look. Wait here for the others." William said.

Ignoring her he jogged into the forest and out of Sam's line of sight. She cursed and glanced around worriedly. She shut the doors to the science building and followed William into the forest.

Chris saw movement ahead of him. There were three or four shapes moving in the shadows. Not spastic and erratic like the monsters he had been slaying but careful and precise. Sentient.

"Better let'em know what's up." He said.

He jumped into the fountain and into the water. He climbed up the fountain and shoved a flare into the open hand of the philosopher that stood on the stone platform. He lit it and dropped down into the water with a splash. In the dim red light he could see dozens of rotting faces illuminated in the darkness.

"Crap."

Darren wrenched the knife free from the eye socket of an infected and he saw the blade had broken in half. Ahead of him he saw a red light coming from the top of the fountain. Beneath it he could make out Chris' tall form.

"Over there!" Darren called.

He rammed the knife into a zombie's neck and let it drop. He drew his handgun and they all broke into a run towards the fountain. Ulrich and Odd bashed down whatever stood in their way and they all leapt into the waters of the fountain forming a circle with their backs to each other.

"'Bout fucking time!" Chris said to Darren over his shoulder.

"So what do we do now?" Terry asked.

They were surrounded on all ends. Dozens of corpses waited in morbid anticipation, the flare the only thing keeping them at bay. But the flare wouldn't hold out forever. Ulrich drew his revolver and pulled back the hammer.

"Light'em up!" Ulrich shouted.

Sam and William stopped in their tracks.

"Gun shots." Sam said. "Maybe we should head back?"

"Just a bit further." William said.

Behind them they heard the snapping of a limb.

"There!" William said raising the shotgun.

There was more movement. Something was coming towards them. William blasted both barrels into the trees making Sam jump.

"Jesus!" She snapped. "What the fuck?"

"I think I got something." William said.

He broke open the shotgun and loaded two shells into the barrels. Suddenly there was a low growling. Something big stepped towards them and bared its large teeth.

"O-Oh no!" William cried.

"RUN!" Sam yelled.

_Blam! Blam! Blam!_

Chris fired three rounds from the Glock into a crowed of the undead. He pistol whipped a sprinter in the face and knocked it away from Darren's back. Ulrich fired two rounds from his own revolver, dropping two shamblers in their tracks.

"I'm almost out!" He called.

"Same here!" Darren yelled back.

"I got-" Chris paused to blow a hole in a sprinter's gut. "I got ammo in the bag!"

"Shit!" Darren said through gritted teeth. "Where can we go? We won't make it to the classrooms!"

"There's a storage shed! To the left!" Odd said.

"Let's go!" Ulrich shouted.

"Home this is away team!" a voice called through the radio.

Jeremie picked the radio up and pressed the call button.

"Go ahead Darren." He said.

"We've rendezvoused with Skull Face and we're falling back to a storage shed!"

As the sound of gun fire came from the radio, Jeremie looked up at Tina and mouthed the words "Skull face?"

"Chris." Tina whispered.

"Right." Jeremie said. "Keep safe. We'll think of something."

Ulrich lowered a crossbar over the door to the shed. He turned around and saw Darren and Chris each light a cigarette. Darren turned on a flashlight and shined it around the shed. It was about the size of a classroom if not a little bit bigger. It was once the home of a groundskeeper before he passed away and it was turned into a gardening shed in his "honor". It smelled of gasoline and dirt and housed tools, crates and an old riding lawnmower covered in a blue tarp.

"Clear." Darren said letting out a long sigh.

Chris placed his bag a crate, unzipped it, and began rummaging through its contents.

".357." He said taking it and tossing a clip to Ulrich. "Just take the rounds out of the clip."

He tossed an extra pistol to Odd and a fresh magazine to Darren.

_Clatter!_

"Fuck!" Darren said. "There's something in here!"

There was the sound of four guns cocking. Darren and Chris shined their lights over to a corner of the shed. Ulrich ran a tongue over his lips, his finger shaking, almost touching the trigger.

"Wait!" a voice cried. "Please! Don't shoot us!"

"What the fuck?" Chris asked.

Two small, timid figures stepped out of the darkness. They looked hungry and scared, but Milly and Tamia were alive.

"M-Milly? Tamia?" Ulrich exclaimed, his gun hand dropping quickly.

"Ulrich!" They cried as they ran towards him and embraced him.

"It's okay." He said. "You're safe. What are you doing in here?" He asked.

"It was Milly's idea!" Tamia exclaimed.

"Oh don't go blaming me!" Milly cried. "I didn't hear you protesting or anything until those monsters showed up!"

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich asked.

"We heard about the riots going on down town." Milly said. "Tamia wakes up earlier than any of us and she read about it online."

"We thought we could get a big scoop. Get some footage and sell it to a news channel and get some money for a new camera for the newspaper."

"Well it's a good thing you did." Ulrich said.

"What do you mean?" Milly asked.

"They rounded us up in the cafeteria." Odd explained. "They were trying to keep us safe. Not long after that we got overrun."

"By what? What are those monsters out there?" Tamia asked.

"Zombies." Ulrich said feeling like he was getting used to saying that at last.

Milly and Tamia let out shrieks of terror.

"Hey it's okay. Jeremie and the others are back in the science building. We'll get to them."

Ulrich felt something shine inside of him. He felt something like hope grow inside of his heart. Milly and Tamia. Alive. Before he had already counted them among the dead. He had wondered if he had shot or bashed them down without realizing it. But they had survived. Of all people two timid little school girls had survived. There was hope.

"Can I see the radio?" Ulrich asked Darren.

Darren tossed Ulrich the radio. He pressed the call button and held it to his mouth.

"Jeremie? It's Ulrich. We're holed up in the storage shed."

"Roger that Ulrich." Jeremie replied. "Are you pinned down?"

"Yeah." Ulrich said looking out the window. "You could say that."

"Just how many students are at this school?" Odd asked. "You'd think we could have wiped them all out by now."

"Many of the automatons outside probably came from the city. The gate doesn't encompass all of Kadic after all." Jeremie pointed out.

"The what?" Ulrich asked.

"Zombies." Jeremie said.

"Oh."

"We'll send you some reinforcements." Jeremie said. "Yumi, Thomas and Desmond are mobilizing now."

"Great. Just be careful." Ulrich said.

"Roger that. Over and out." Jeremie said.

Ulrich tossed the radio back to Darren.

"Some of the others are on their way but I don't think they can take all of those things by themselves."

"Hey guys." Chris called.

They turned to look at him and saw that he was standing in front of an open tool cabinet. He turned to face them. He took a drag from his cigarette and through a breath of smoke said.

"These should work."

A zombie brushed against the wooden door to the shed. It groaned and walked into the door, the stupid thing oblivious to the obstacle in its path. Suddenly a sputtering sound came from behind the door. Then another. And another. Then a loud whirring sound. The zombie placed its head against the door and grunted. There was a splintering of wood as a chainsaw blade pierced through the door and into the zombies face. The blade moved down and nearly sawed the zombie in half. The door exploded as someone on the other side kicked it down and knocked several zombies away. In the doorway stood Chris, Darren, Ulrich and Odd. Chris and Darren had put on their paint ball masks to block any blood, Chris' mask was painted to resemble a red skull and Darren's resembled a pale gray jackal. Chris held the chainsaw in his large hands, the blade rotating and purring like a hungry lion. The other boys each held a flare along with a weapon they had recovered inside the shed. Darren had found a hatchet, Ulrich was using a machete and Odd had received a small folding trench shovel from Chris. Ulrich, Odd, and Terry each were wearing one of Chris's extra bandanas over their mouths to keep blood off of their faces.

"Let's cut a path." Chris said.

They charged forward, swinging their weapons and forming a circle around the two girls, keeping them out of harms way. Blood spattered everywhere as the team hacked, chopped and sliced their way through the crowd of zombies. Milly and Tamia screamed and covered their eyes, holding onto Ulrich and Odd's shirts with their other hand.

"THIS! IS SO! FUCKED!" Odd yelled as he split a zombies head open with his shovel.

"KEEP FUCKING PUSHING!" Darren yelled back.

"Jesus." Jeremie said. "They're cutting through them like butter."

He, Sissi, and Aelita were on the roof using the telescope to track the progress of the two teams.

"Come on Ulrich..." Sissi said under her breath.

Sam ran through the trees. She wasn't sure what had happened. She had gotten turned around somewhere and had ran away from the school instead of towards it. Whatever that thing was it was huge. She and William had been split up and she had no idea where he was. She slowed her pace and looked around. The woods were dark and it was starting to rain. She took a few steps through the trees and came out onto a path.

"Okay..." she said to herself. "Okay there's the park bench. So..."

She turned left on the path and began jogging back towards the school. She ran down the path in the darkness. She heard a rustle from the brush up ahead to her left. She paused and drew an arrow. She held her breath and waited for whatever it was to show itself. The brush broke and she gasped.

"William?"

"Let's go!" He said.

Yumi let out a fierce cry and decapitated a zombie with a single swipe. Just ahead and to the right of them she could see Ulrich and the others moving towards them. Thomas split a head open with his ax and Desmond right hooked a zombie into the air and kicked it away.

"I bring the pain baby!" He hooted as one more staggered towards him. He hit it with a uppercut and followed his blow with a double axe handle.

"Come on!" Yumi said. "We're almost there!"

"Ok!" Aelita said looking through the telescope. "Both teams have regrouped and they are en route to the classrooms!"

"About time!" Sissi said.

"Let's go and tell the others." Jeremie said.

The three kids left the roof top and returned to the teacher's lounge. As they neared the door it burst open and Tina ran out into the hallway holding the shotgun and the pistol.

"What are you doing?" Aelita asked. "How'd you get out."

"Not the first time Darren's handcuffed me." Tina said. She turned and started to run away but paused. "That sounded wrong." She said.

And she ran away. The three children dashed into the teacher's lounge and saw that it was in a state of disarray. The coffee table had been flipped over and snack cakes and wrappers littered the floor and an armchair was laying on its side. Nicholas and Herb were handcuffed together and Herb was rubbing the back of his head grimacing in pain.

"I- OW! I just turned my head for a second and- OW!" He exclaimed.

"We were just sitting here and then Tina escaped!" Caroline explained helping Nicholas to his feet. "She clocked the geek and then swiped the key."

"Locked us together before we knew what was happening." Nicholas grumbled. "Took the guns and then hauled off."

"We saw her." Jeremie said. "What was she doing?"

"What else?" Aelita said. "She's going to help her family."

"Come on!" Ulrich said twirling his blade and giving his fingers a flex. "We're so close now!"

All they needed was a final push. The science building was in sight. Soon they'd be safe and could finally rest.

"We got this! We got this!" Odd panted.

Up ahead of them two figures came out from the forest. Sam and William were covered in sweat and panting, their eyes wide in fear.

"Sammy? What are you doing?" Odd called.

"ODD!" She screamed. "RUN!"

There was a bellowing roar as something large broke through the treeline behind them. It roared again and swung an arm, batting away Sam like a rag doll. She flew through the air and slammed into a column that supported the portico over the entrance to the science building.

"SAM!" Odd yelled.

"Die you fucker!" William yelled firing his shotgun at the monster.

The buckshot blasted it in the chest and tore off a few layers of skin but other wise didn't seem to bother it. It grabbed the shotgun from William and tossed it away before it slammed a fist into William's chest and knocked him into the air and back onto the ground.

"That's it! It's that thing from before!" Chris shouted.

"What the hell is that thing?" Ulrich cried.

"TANK!" Odd cried.

"Holy shit." Yumi said looking the creature over. "Guys... that thing is Jim!"

Whatever poison was turning people into zombies had effected Jim differently. He had grown in size but he wasn't nearly as big as a "tank" from a certain video game series by a certain company that has trouble counting to three. He had grown two feet taller and now towered over the students and even Chris. His muscles had swollen far beyond what any athlete could ever hope to achieve even with the use of steroids. His jogging suit, which thankfully was elastic, was clinging to his body for dear life. His eyes were glowing red like the others and his skin seemed to be splitting in some areas, as if his muscles were bursting to get out. It looked over at them and growled.

"Run or shoot?" Ulrich asked Darren.

The goliath's growl increased in tone.

"Run or shoot?" Chris asked.

"Both!" Darren yelled as Jim roared and broke into a run.

The group scattered like flies as Jim ran through them, swinging his arms wildly. Odd ran right past him to Sam.

"You okay?" He asked.

"S-stop the world." Sam gasped.

She was dazed and she had a cut on her forehead but otherwise she was okay.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Odd said.

Odd pulled the spare pistol Chris had given him and snapped off three shots at a group of sprinters that rushed them. Jim slammed his fist down intending to bring it down on Yumi's head. She side stepped and his fist hit the ground, cracking a rock in the stone work into several pieces. Yumi let out a battle cry and brought her blade down on Jim's arm just below his massive elbow. She gasped as the blade bounced off, leaving behind a mark that looked like the wound one might receive from a paper cut. Yumi could see a few chips in the blade of her sword.

"Oh god!" Yumi gasped.

Jim roared and belted her away, sending her rolling on the ground.

"Hey ugly!" Darren yelled.

Jim turned and growled. Darren and Chris raised their handguns and they both opened fire, both boys emptying their magazines into the juggernaut. The hail of forty-five caliber and nine millimeter gunfire knocked Jim back a little and the two waited for the giant to fall. Jim lifted his head back up and looked at them, growling and baring his bloody teeth. In his forehead the two could see a bullet smashed nearly flat on impact with Jim's skull.

"Well fuck." Chris said.

"Run!" Ulrich called helping Yumi to her feet.

No one was going to argue. There was nothing in their arsenal that could hurt that monster. Everyone turned their backs and ran back towards the science building. Up ahead Ulrich saw the doors open and Tina run out.

"Chris!" She called. "I-"

She screamed at the sight of Jim's mutated form.

"God damn it!" Chris roared. "Run! For fuck's sake run!"

Everyone ran through the doors. Chris scooped Tina up in his arms and shielded her from any possible harm as Ulrich and Darren slammed the doors shut and shoved their weight into it. A second later the doors bucked as if a car had hit them. If the doors had been made from anything other than steel they would have been destroyed. There was a roar followed by a shattering as the "shatter proof" glass in the window exploded and a massive hand burst through.

"Kill it kill it kill it kill it kill it kill it!" Odd cried.

Thomas let out a cry and buried the spike end of the axe into the arm. Jim roared in anger as Chris grabbed the chainsaw and revved it up. He buried the blade into the flesh and closed his eyes as he felt hot blood spatter on his clothes. There was a high whining noise as the chain became tangled in flesh and blood and sputtered. Jim roared and pulled his arm out of the window. The door bucked two more times and then ceased.

Everyone stood in place and panted. The door had several inward dents on it and probably couldn't take much more damage. With a trembling hand Ulrich reached forward and bolted the door's lock. Desmond used his chain to tie the two door handles together.

"We need to get the hell out of here." Ulrich said quietly.


	13. Hallowed Grounds

Scenario 12: Hallowed Grounds

Ulrich ran down the darkened hallway of the science building. He had one of Yumi's arms over his shoulder and he was keeping her on her feet. Odd was right behind him carrying an unconscious Sam in his arms. Odd was panting under her weight but he didn't dare stop or falter. Odd could hear the footsteps of the others behind him; Darren and Chris were helping William along. Odd looked down at Sam and held her closer to him.

"We're almost there." He said gently hoping Sam could hear him.

Ahead of him Ulrich could see the classroom door.

"Hey!" He shouted. "Get that door open!"

A few seconds later the door creaked open and a confused looking Aelita stuck her head out.

"Ulrich?" She gasped.

"We have wounded here!" Odd called. "Move!"

"Get the first aid kit!" Ulrich said pushing past Aelita.

"What on earth happened?" Jeremie asked.

"Jim turned into a tank!" Odd yelled angrily.

"Huh?" Aelita asked.

"Don't worry about it." Darren said as he and Chris let William lean against a wall. "Get the first aid kit. See if it will do us any good."

Aelita dashed out the door and returned with the medical kit a few seconds later.

"Ulrich what happened?" Jeremie asked.

"It was Jim." Ulrich said as Aelita began examining Sam's back and head wound. "He turned into something else entirely."

"How do you mean?" Jeremie asked.

"I don't know!" Ulrich snapped. "He's like some kind of zombie big foot or something!"

"You'll be fine." Aelita said to Sam. "Head wounds always bleed heavily. The cut really isn't that bad. You will need a few stitches though. I'm more worried about you having a concussion. Sam? Sam?"

Aelita snapped her fingers and Sam blinked.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Aelita asked.

"Er... seven?"

"Okay." Aelita said looking at her single finger. "I think you're definitely concussed."

"Will she be all right?" Odd asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine." Aelita said though she didn't sound very sure. "Just don't let her fall asleep."

She took out a suture and began to stitch Sam's wound.

"What about... William?" Sam slurred.

"I'm fine Sam." William said.

He was holding his side and wincing. He sustained nothing more serious than a massive, ugly bruise on his chest and two fingers on his left hand were jammed.

"Dumb ass." Sam muttered.

Aelita finished the suture and applied a bandage over the wound. She fished a pill bottle out of the medical kit and twisted it open.

"Here Samantha." She said. "Something for the pain."

"What the hell happened out there?" Odd asked angrily. "Why'd you guys go into the woods?"

"I saw something moving out there." William said. "I went to go and check it out and Sam followed me. It was that thing. It chased after us and we got separated but we made our way back to the school."

"We're in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, what made you think that now of all times it would be a good idea to play Scooby Doo?" Odd exclaimed.

"Look I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know what it was?" William asked.

"From now on, it's probably best to assume that all the things lurking in the dark are giant hulk like monster that want to eat you okay?" Odd yelled. "Every time you wander off by yourself bad shit happens so do us all a favor and stop it!"

Odd whirled around and stomped away helping Sam into the teacher's lounge across the hall. Aelita tended to Yumi's busted lip and black eye and closed the medical kit with a snap. The two girls gave William a dark look and left the classroom. William sighed and looked over at Ulrich hopefully. Ulrich glared daggers at him and followed his friends out of the room.

Chris, Darren, and Tina were sitting in the teachers lounge. Chris had set the duffel bag on the coffee table and they were going through its contents. Chris was counting out the spare magazines he had picked up and Tina was sorting through the ammunition. Darren was carefully cleaning the blood off of his mask with a damp paper towel.

"Here's your piece by the way." Chris said handing the Glock 30 to Darren. "Saved my ass back at the base."

Darren took the handgun and ejected the magazine. He examined the weapon and placed it on the table.

"Thanks." He said.

"Where's sarge?" Chris asked.

"Dead."

"Like dead dead or-"

"He's dead." Darren said shortly.

"What the fuck is going on? I mean zombies? Really? It's like a bad horror movie."

The door opened up and Jeremie stepped into the room along with everyone else.

"Chris?" Jeremie asked.

"What?" He asked loading bullets into a clip.

"You said that the blockade was over run? What did you mean?" Jeremie asked.

"Exactly that." Chris said.

He leaned back on the couch he was sitting on and pushed a hand through his tangled hair.

"There were plenty of survivors from the fort." He explained as Odd helped Sam into an armchair. "Men. Women. Children. We were all crammed into a church just a few miles away. The GIGN and police were trying to keep those things at bay while letting people from the city get inside. They were doing a half way decent job. Untill those other psychos showed up anyway."

"What other psychos?" Jeremie asked.

"Some freaks that started burning the shit out of everything in sight. Came out of the god damned woodwork." Chris shrugged.

"Burners." Yumi said quietly.

"I guess." Chris muttered. "Sure as hell weren't extinguishing fires. Anyway I bailed and eventually met up with some other GIGN guys. They wanted to try and get here to Kadic and form a last stand. Then we got attacked by that thing out there. Tore the guys apart like they were phone books."

"If the blockade was over run then that means..." Aelita trailed off.

"There's no one coming." Darren said. "We're on our own."

"We have thirteen shotgun shells, forty eight of the 9mms, thirty five of the .45 ACPs, and seventeen of those .357 magnums." Tina said counting out the bullets.

The counter of the kitchenette was cluttered with bullets, magazines and all of the other equipment Chris had recovered from the GIGN van. Most of the magazines were useless since they didn't have the appropriate weapon for them but luckily all of the ammunition was useable.

"That's not even enough to cross the damn street." Chris said.

"Well it's all we got." Darren said. " We need a plan if we're going to get out of here."

"Well we can't make it on foot. I'm not keen on the thought of walking through the war torn streets of Paris with just my good intentions." Odd said.

"We need a car. Something big." Ulrich said. "What were those GIGN guys driving?"

"A nice, big heavily armored van." Chris sighed. "But unless you can flip the bastard over I don't think we'll be driving it anywhere."

"What about the teachers?" Darren asked. "Any of them have cars?"

"No." Yumi said. "All the teachers live on campus. There's no point in having a car."

"Of course not." Darren muttered.

"There's a bus!" Desmond said suddenly. "There's a bus I was helping Jim restore for the school to use during field trips."

"Does it run?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah. The autoshop was fixing it." Desmond says. "Though it might be missing a tire."

"Is there a tire you can put on it?" Darren asked.

"Yeah. It wouldn't take me long either. I could do it blind folded." Desmond said.

"We'll just take your word on that." Ulrich said. "Where is the vehicle?"

"In the garage... Which is at the other end of the grounds." Desmond said a little flatly.

"We can make it." Darren said.

"Why do we have to leave?" Milly asked tearfully. "I want to stay here! What if our parents come looking for us and we aren't here to meet them?"

Ulrich knelt down in front of Milly and Tamia and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"It's too dangerous to stay here." He said gently. "We'll find your parents girls but in the mean time we can't risk staying here. Your parents would want you to be some place safe and this school isn't that place anymore. Understand?"

"I guess so." Tamia said sadly. "But where do we go?"

"That's a good question." Yumi said thoughtfully.

"We got to get out of the city." Jeremie said. "This city is beyond saving short of a missile strike."

"You think it's that far gone?" Emmanuel asked.

"When the outbreak first occurred, the police force mobilized thinking that it was just rioting. They urged people to stay in their homes. Then they realized it was something worse. It was already too late by that point. People had turned and those people infected other people. Instead of launching a quarantine procedure and trying to round up survivors they should have just hunted down and eliminated all of the infected. Now there aren't many uninfected people left to save. Everyone is either dead or dying, one way or the other. This city is lost. The fight is over. The undead have already taken Paris." Jeremie explained.

"We need to get out of dodge before this place goes the way of Raccoon City." Chris said.

"What?" Yumi asked.

Odd made a whistling noise followed by an explosion.

"Okay." Yumi breathed. "So where do we go?"

"Uh... Well..." Herb timidly raised his hand.

"Yes, do you have something you'd like to contribute to the class?" Odd asked. "Remember Mr. Pichon, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people."

"Shut up!" Herb snapped. "I was just about to say that I think I know a place we can go!"

"Where?" Ulrich asked.

He wasn't being condescending or sarcastic. He wasn't even looking at Herb as if he was an insect that needed to be batted away. He was serious and willing to listen to him.

"Well, My favorite uncle passed away a few months ago and he left me his summer home. It's really out of the way and secluded."

"How out of the way is out of the way?" Tina asked.

"It will take about a day to get there by car. It's a huge house and the staff should still be there. My uncle had guns, food, even a back up generator. We'd be safe there." Herb explained.

"Could we leave now?" Ulrich asked. "Like right now?"

"That wouldn't be a great idea. I think we'd be better off waiting for daylight." Aelita said. "We're all tired and hungry and most of us are wounded. I think it would be smart to just take a breather for the night and head out first thing in the morning."

Ulrich opened his mouth to argue but paused as he looked around at everyone. Aelita was right. Everyone was tired, covered in blood, battered and bruised. Nearly every muscle in his body ached and he was having trouble just standing up.

"That sounds pretty good actually." Ulrich sighed.

"No way." Sissi said. "There's no way I'm leaving without my father!"

"Sissi, you need to know, your father might not be... with us anymore." Ulrich said gently.

"I don't have any reason to believe he may be like those sick monsters out there!" Sissi snapped.

"Didn't Jim say he was ill?" Odd asked.

"He had surgery on his back!" Sissi said. "He's been recovering all week! Ulrich!" Sissi pleaded. "If there's any chance he's alive I can't just leave him behind! He's my daddy!"

Ulrich sighed.

"All right. All right. We should probably check on the bus anyway. Make sure it's even there." He said.

"God damn it." Darren thought.

"Chris and I will take Desmond to the garage. We'll clear a path and make sure we have everything we'll need." He said.

"I'll take Sissi to the Headmasters quarters and check around for any signs of her father." Ulrich said.

"Keep an eye out for gigantor out there." Darren said. "Don't bother fighting it. Just run."

"Got it. You too."

"There's an extra radio here for both of you to take and stay in contact with us here in the teachers lounge. If anything goes wrong give us a call and we'll try and help." Jeremie said.

"You-" Chris started to say to Tina.

"I know I know." She said waving her hand. "I'll stay here. Both of you just hurry up and come back in one peice. All of you."

They nodded and they left the safety of the teacher's lounge.

"Happy hunting." Chris said to Ulrich with a nod.

He and Darren lowered their masks over their faces and jogged down the opposite end of the hall with Desmond leading the way.

"Those guys sort of creep me out." Sissi said.

"I know what you mean. I'm just glad they're here." Ulrich replied. "Let's go."

Ulrich and Sissi carefully made their way through the grounds of Kadic. The front lawn was too dangerous to navigate through but the middle lawn between the main buildings was nearly abandoned save for the occasional shambler which quickly met its end with Ulrich's machete.

"We need to be extra quiet." Ulrich said to a whimpering Sissi as he slid the blade out of the zombie's neck.

Sissi nodded and resisted the urge to scream as Ulrich split a second shamblers head open and kicked it away.

"Come on." He said extending a hand.

She took his hand the two of them ran through the grounds. They made it to the administration building and slipped in through a side door. The building was dark. The furniture was dimly illuminated by the pale light of the moon shining in from the glass windows on the ceiling.

"Let's take this slow. If your father was up and about when all of this started, odds are he was in his office." Ulrich said.

Sissi nodded.

They walked through the wide open lobby and made their way to the offices in the back. They came to the Dean's office and found that it was locked.

"Great." Ulrich said with a sigh. "Any idea where we can find a key?"

"No... We can't just give up. Why don't you blast the lock open?" Sissi asked.

"Too dangerous and too loud." Ulrich said. "Stand back."

He lifted his foot and kicked at the door as hard as he could. The wood was way too hard and didn't give way. Ulrich growled in anger and shook his leg in pain.

"Come on." Sissi said gently. "We'll think of something."

She and Ulrich hobbled down the hallway and Ulrich pulled the radio out of his pocket. He turned it on and held it to his mouth.

"Jeremie this is Ulrich. We're in the administration building but the office is locked. Any ideas?"

"Locked? See if you can find the janitor's office. He has a key to every room in the school." Jeremie said.

"Where is it again?" Ulrich asked.

"Somewhere in the boiler room." Jeremie said. "But be careful. I used my laptop and I hacked into Kadic's security cameras. There's definitely something moving around in the shadows down there."

"Got it." Ulrich said. "I'll keep in contact."

"Okay. Over and out."

Ulrich pocketed the radio and they made their way to the front doors.

"We're going back outside?" Sissi asked.

"There might be a set of keys in the boiler room. If you want to check your father's office then we need to open the door." Ulrich said patiently.

"Okay." Sissi said nervously. "Let's go."

Chris, Darren, and Desmond jogged through the wet lawn of Kadic's backyard.

"Used to come out here with my buddies during soccer practice." Desmond explained. "Watch the cheerleaders. That Delmas girl is a total hottie. Too bad she's a major b-"

He felt two hands clamp on his shoulder and shove him to the ground.

"What's the deal?" He exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up!" Darren growled in his ear.

Up ahead there was a massive figure lumbering around the runner's track. One of the arms of the creature hung limply at his side. It was Jim, his distant memories had brought him back to the place where he had spent much of his time when he was human. He growled and looked up at the sky. He let out a loud angry, mournful roar into the air and slammed a fist into the ground.

"Oh shit!" Desmond whispered. "Did he see us?"

"No." Chris said. "Just shut up and keep down!"

The three boys made their way down the back lawn, staying low and making as little noise as possible.

"Okay." Desmond said. "We're almost there. The garage is up ahead, just off the old dirt path that leads to the main nature trail in the forest."

Darren looked over his shoulder. The dark silhouette of Jim was no where to be seen.

"Okay." He said quietly. "Let's just get this over with."

They picked up the pace and quickly made their way to the garage. It was an old run down thing with filthy windows and rust spots on the metal.

"Okay." Desmond said. "Give me a second. There's a hide-a-key somewhere around here..."

Suddenly there was a low growling noise from the trees by the garage. There was a click as Darren turned on his flashlight and shined the beam at the trees. In the brush Darren could see several yellow eyes glaring at them. The eyes belonged to wolves. About a dozen or so. Their eyes were wild and cruel, their teeth were stained in blood and saliva dripped from their maws.

"Shit." Chris muttered. "Are they infected?"

"Yeah I think so..." Darren said readying his hatchet.

The wolves walked out of the trees. Several of them had deep gashes on their sides and their bones were exposed under their dark fur. Their insides were either missing or hanging limply out of their stomachs.

"I'm going to say yeah..." Desmond said.

The nearest wolf snarled and rushed at the three boys. It leapt into the air and roared, its teeth going for Darren's throat. Darren round house kicked the wolf and knocked it away. It rolled in the grass and Darren buried his weapon into the creature's side. It staggered from the blow but soon returned to the battle.

"Shit." Darren muttered.

Chris kicked a wolf away and brought his baseball bat down on its skull. The wolf yelped and shambled away, shaking its head from side to side. Darren lashed out with the axe and hacked the wolf's snout off.

"Play dead!" Chris yelled kicking another wolf away and stomping on its neck.

Desmond dodged out of the way as a wolf leapt at him and slammed his police baton into its back. The wolf staggered under the blow and Desmond took his chance to hit it again and again. The spine of the wolf snapped in half and the top half wiggled away. Scrambling on its front two paws it crawled towards Desmond and nipped at his heels. Desmond brought his foot down on the wolf's skull and crushed it. The wolf whined a little but was quickly silenced by another stomp of Desmond's foot.

"How many of those bastards are there?" Chris asked slamming his bat into another wolf.

"Too many!" Darren said. "Where's the damn key?"

Desmond ran over to the garage and lifted up a brick in the dirt. Underneath it was a small dirty key. He jammed the key in the lock on the bottom of the door and gave it a sharp turn. There was some resistance from the old lock but it finally turned.

"Got it!" He exclaimed.

The night air was filled with the howling of the infected wolves. Desmond ducked under the garage door and motioned for the others.

"Come on!" He said.

Darren finished off the snoutless wolf and rolled underneath the garage door. Chris lifted it a little higher and crouched underneath it. He turned around and slammed the door down, the impact crudely hacked a wolf in half just under its front arms. Darren drew his hatchet and chopped off the wolf's snarling head. He leaned against the wall and sighed. There was a soft click followed by a humming noise a a few lights flickered on.

"There's a small generator in the back." Desmond explained walking up to them.

The garage smelled of dirt and gasoline. There was a long work bench along with a few desks for students. This was after all, a shop class. On the left hand side of the garage was a rickety old bus along with an even older vehicle that was missing a majority of its parts. Judging from its shape it may have once been a VW beetle. A red tool chest and a few lockers occupied the rest of the space making the garage feel very cramped.

"This is your big escape plan?" Chris asked looking at the machine. "Half the damn windows are missing!"

"It ain't much but she runs okay?" Desmond said. "If you'd like you can hop into old Betsy over there and Flintstone your ass out of the city."

Desmond grabbed a wheel from the corner of the room and a tire iron from the work bench. He rolled the tire to the bus and got to work. In a few minutes the tire was fitted into place and Desmond slowly lowered the bus back onto the ground. He jogged around the side of the bus and got inside. He brushed some dirt off of the seat and sat down. He sat there for a few seconds and face palmed himself at a sudden realization.

"Uh... guys?" He called out the window.

"What?" Darren asked.

"We have a little problem..."

"What?" Chris asked darkly. "What the fuck is it? No keys?"

"No it's not that." Desmond said. "Just uh... no gas."

"Of course not." Chris growled kicking a metal bucket over.

"There's some jerry cans here." Darren said. "None of them have gas in them?"

"Doesn't look like it." Desmond said. "Sorry guys. I guess this was a bust."

"Like fuck!" Chris said grabbing a can. "Come on! We'll siphon the gas ourselves if we have to!"

"What about those wolves out there?" Desmond asked.

"We'll just have to fight'em off." Darren said taking the radio off of his belt.

"Jeremy this is Alpha. The bus has no gas. The three of us are going search for vehicles along the nearby streets and try to siphon gas. Over."

"You should try the gas station down the block on the north east side." Jeremie said. "There you should be able to get gas and supplies. Over."

"Good idea. We're moving now. We'll stay in contact. Over." Darren said.

He clipped the radio back to his belt and drew his hatchet.

"Everyone grab a can. Let's get this over with." He said.

Ulrich and Sissi stood at the back entrance to the gymnasium. Ulrich slowly pushed the door open and peaked inside. The zombies that they had trapped in there a few hours ago were still shambling around. The sprinters were fighting over a hunk of flesh and snarling like wild animals. Ulrich sighed and turned back to Sissi.

"The entrance to the boiler room is at the other end of the gym." He whispered. "You wait here and I'll try and clear those things out. We can get around the slow ones but it's the fast ones I'm worried about. One good yell and they'll bring a whole horde down on us."

"How are you going to do that?" Sissi asked.

"You wait here. I have a plan." Ulrich said.

Sissi started to protest and then caught a glimpse of the monsters inside. She nodded and whispered for Ulrich to be careful. He slipped into the gymnasium and silently closed the door behind him. He held his breath, fearing that the slightest sound may alert the things to his presence. He quietly crept towards the wooden bleachers on the left side of the building. They were currently unfolded and Ulrich knew he could use them to his advantage. He slipped behind them and quietly made his way through the metal bars making sure mot to trip over them. He stopped in the middle and peered out through the seats. He spotted the three infected just a few feet away. They were tearing at each other and the hunk of flesh, still arguing over it. Ulrich let out a quiet whistle. One of the infected jerked its head up and looked over at the wooden bleachers. It narrowed its red eyes and snarled. It then stood up and stumbled towards the seats. The other two looked up and followed, leaving behind the scrap of meat. Ulrich quickly slipped through the bars and towards the far right side of the stands. He stuck out his head and saw the three figures stumbling towards him. He quickly ran through the bars and back to the way he came. He heard the things behind him stumbling through the bars and tripping over themselves. When he got outside he looked behind him and saw the three infected sprawled out and biting and clawing at each other, tangled in the metal. Ulrich flipped a switch on the wall and the wooden bleachers began to close themselves. The things inside roared in protest and were soon crushed. Blood oozed out from under the seat and Ulrich let out a sigh of relief once the growls stopped. He turned around and saw several of the undead shambling towards him. He flexed his fingers around the hilt of the machete and went to work.

Five minutes later the door to the gymnasium opened and Ulrich stepped out covered in a fresh layer of blood.

"It's clear." He gasped lowering his bandana. "Let's go."

Sissi nodded and followed Ulrich inside the gym. The floor was littered with severed heads and the floor was slick with blood. Sissi whimpered at the sight of someone she knew from the cheerleader squad and fought back the urge to vomit.

"This- This is sick." She said. "I don't know how much more of this I can stomach."

"We're almost done." Ulrich said. "We'll be getting out of here soon. Come on."

The three boys stormed down the street. They ignored most of the undead and whenever one rushed at them they simply crushed it and knocked it away. Up ahead they could see the tall sign advertising the gas station.

"We'll have to activate the pumps inside." Desmond said. "You guys go in and take care of that. I'll get the gas."

"Got it." Chris said.

The three boys ran for the gas station. Desmond hopped over a overturned garbage can and ran to the nearest pump. Darren and Chris rushed to the entrance.

"Hold on." Darren said.

The doors were open and the inside of the store was dark. Inside they could both hear voices. Darren held a finger to his lips and Chris nodded. The boys readied their weapons and stepped inside. The gas station was more of a large convenience store and towards the back they could here the clinking of glass bottles and hushed voices in the back. A figure walked out behind one of the aisles.

"A'ight. I'm gonna take a piss." He called over his shoulder.

He was dressed up in burner garb and holding a 2x4 with nails driven through the wood.

"Shit! We got company!" He yelled as he spotted the boys.

He charged at Chris and Darren. Out of the corner of his eyes Chris saw another burner rush at them wielding a hammer from the aisle next to them.

"Three O'clock!" Chris warned.

"Engaging!" Darren replied.

Darren rushed at the second burner with his hatchet as Chris charged the first one. Chris and the burners weapons collided with a loud thunk. The impact made the burners stagger back from Chris's mighty blow. Chris brought the baseball bat down on the burners shoulder who cried in pain as the bones in his shoulder popped. Chris slammed the handle of the bat into the burners face, breaking his nose and slamming the back of his head into a glass door of a cooler. The glass cracked like a spider web and the burner slumped down to the ground leaving a smear of blood on the glass.

Darren avoided a swipe from the burner's weapon and kicked him in the knee. The burner cried in pain and stumbled backwards grabbing onto a shelf to keep himself up. Darren brought his hatchet down and cleaved off most of the burner's fingers. He screamed and fell backwards onto the ground clutching his hand and writhing in pain. Darren raised a boot and brought it down on the burners face silencing him.

"Sound off!" He called in the darkness of the store.

"I'm okay!" Chris called back.

"Fucking fuckers!" A voice bellowed.

Chris wheeled around and spotted another burner stand up from behind the counter. He aimed a sawed off shotgun at Chris and fired. Chris ducked behind a shelf and the glass doors to a cooler exploded in a blast of 12-gauge buck shot and glass. The burner turned and fired at the place Darren had been causing several bottles of soda to exploded in a geyser of liquid.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" The burner yelled as he broke the shotgun and loaded two shells into the barrels.

Darren drew his Glock and clicked the safety off. He ducked low and ran down the aisle. He peered over the top and blindly fired three rounds in the general direction of the service counter.

"Eat lead you little fuck!" the burner yelled.

Two more shotgun blasts and one of the front windows was blown out by the gunshots. Darren quickly stood up and aimed down the sights of his handgun. He fired two quick shots; the first round struck center mass directly in the heart; the second bullet hit the burner between the eyes, spattering the shelves behind him with blood and gray matter. The burner slumped against the shelf and slid to the ground smearing the cartons of cigarettes behind him with more blood. Darren kept his handgun trained on the counter and exited the cover of the aisle.

"You okay?" He called out to Chris.

"Yeah." Chirs responded rising from cover and shaking a few shards of glass from his hair. "I'm good."

Chris picked up his baseball bat as Darren vaulted over the counter. He walked over to the register and pressed button labeled "Pump 1". Chris picked up two good sized gym bags the burners had been filling with supplies.

"Plenty of food and water. This other one is full of nothing but booze and smokes."

"Works for me. Grab'em and let's go." Darren said grabbing a tray of lighters and dropping them in a grocery bag.

He bent down next to the burner and grabbed the sawed off shotgun. He felt around the burners pockets and pulled out a zippo lighter, a switchblade, ad a few extra shotgun shells. Darren reloaded the shotgun and tossed it to Chris.

"Let's help Desmond and get the hell out of here." Darren said.

They each grabbed a bag and headed back outside. Desmond popped up behind a dumpster looking shaken.

"What the hell man?" He asked. "I heard gunshots and shouting!"

"Don't worry about it." Chris said. "Pumps are on. Let's get the gas."

Desmond nodded and began filling up the Jerry cans.

Ulrich and Sissi made their way into the maintenance corridor. The air was hot and stuffy and made Ulrich all the more uncomfortable in his blood soaked clothes. The two made their way down the hall, passing by the door that Ulrich and his friends had used to gain access to the sewers on so many occaisions. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that it was wide open.

"Ulrich?" Sissi asked. "What's wrong?"

He didn't say anything and approached the door. He peeked outside into the dark tunnel and wrinkled his nose at the foul sewer smell. He had almost forgotten the scent and could honestly say he didn't miss it. He started to close the door but paused. He spotted deep cuts in the metal door and the lock was laying on the ground. Someone or something had forced its way into the school. Ulrich shut the door and shoved a metal shelf in front of it.

"Let's go." He said to Sissi.

They approached the door to the boiler room and Ulrich pulled it open. The staircase was pitch black. In the darkness Ulrich could barely make out the gray concrete steps. Down in the darkness Ulrich could definitely hear something scuttling around in the shadows. He reached over and grabbed a flashlight off of a shelf by the door and turned it on. He shined the light down the stairs and Sissi gasped as something quickly dashed out of the light.

"This is probably a really really really bad idea..." Ulrich thought.

He sighed and pulled out the radio.

"Jeremie?" He said. "We're close to the boiler room now but the something feels wrong. The door to the sewer was wide open and the lock looks like it was cut off."

"Really? That's... odd." Jeremie said.

Suddenly the lights above Ulrich and Sissi flickered and went out.

"Damn it!" Ulrich cursed. "Jeremie the lights just-"

"Went out?" Jeremie asked. "Same here in the teacher's lounge. Hold on."

Ulrich stood there in the darkness for a moment or two, Sissi's hand clasped firmly around his.

"I'm on the roof." Jeremie said finally. "It looks like there's still power in the city. It must be the circuit breaker. It should be in the janitor's office. Just give the switches a flip and the power should come back on."

"Got it." Ulrich said.

He turned the radio off and handed Sissi the machete.

"Here." He said.

She took it and he drew out his revolver. He opened the cylinder and made sure it was loaded. He closed it and pulled back the hammer.

"You stay behind me and at the first sign of trouble you run okay?" He said.

She nodded and swallowed hard gripping the machete in both hands.

Ulrich took the lead and they both slowly descended the steps into the boiler room. The air was even hotter down below and in the darkness of the boiler room, surrounded by the large iron hissing contraptions, Ulrich felt as if he was on the set of a horror movie. He shined the light all around the room looking for the Janitor's office. There was a loud hollow bang behind them and Sissi let out a yelp of fear. Ulrich wheeled around holding his pistol and flashlight akimbo. The flashlight's beam was beginning to darken and wasn't going to be providing light for much longer.

"W-what was that?" Sissi asked.

"I don't know but we better get moving." Ulrich said quickly. "Come on."

They both hurried through the boiler room looking for the office.

"There it is again!" Sissi said pointing at a spot between two boilers.

Ulrich shined the light to the spot and aimed his pistol. Something moved in the shadows. There was a low growling sound and a pair of beady eyes stared at Ulrich.

"Shoot it!" Sissi cried squeezing Ulrich's shoulder.

"Wait." Ulrich said his finger relaxing a little. "Wait a second..."

The thing took a step forward into the light. There in the dimming light stood Odd's dog Kiwi, a gray miniature bull terrier. Kiwi barked happily and ran towards Ulrich and Sissi.

"Kiwi!" Ulrich exclaimed as the small dog jumped into his arms.

"That's it?" Sissi asked. "Kiwi? That's what we've been paranoid about?"

Suddenly, Kiwi's ears perked up and he growled. He looked up at the ceiling and began barking furiously.

"Sissi..." Ulrich said. "I don't think we're alone down here.

He shined the flashlight up and Sissi screamed at what they saw. A bloody pale face looked back down at them, it's wide eyes were a dark red color, so dark they were almost black. It's mouth was full of razor sharp teeth. The flashlight in Ulrich's hands slowly dimmed and finally died leaving him and Sissi alone in the dark. The thing above them let out a throaty guttural growl and Ulrich heard a metallic clattering above them. Ulrich fired his revolver twice at the ceiling in front of them. The bullets struck metal and sent up sparks when they came into contact with the ceiling, briefly illuminating the darkness. Ulrich wasn't sure but he could have sworn the thing was climbing on the ceiling, skittering along like a crab. Ulrich heard the sound of metal scraping on metal and heard something drop to the floor ahead of them. He fired two more shots and missed. A bullet hit a pipe and a jet of boiling hot steam erupted from within. He saw something leap into hiding and once again heard the sound of clattering metal as if two swords were meeting in rapid combat.

"Screw it!" Ulrich said. "Come on we got to find the janitor's office! Kiwi? Can you show us the way?"

"Ulrich he's a just a dog!" Sissi said fiercely.

Kiwi barked and ran in front of them. He slid to a halt and barked to the left just ahead of them. Ulrich could see a crouched shadowy figure on top of one of the boilers. He raised his revolver and fired. He missed and sent up another flash of sparks. Kiwi growled at another spot on the ceiling. Ulrich fired and missed once again.

"Let's go!" Ulrich said.

Kiwi barked ahead of them and Ulrich and Sissi chased after him. He turned a corner and Ulrich heard something leaping from boiler to boiler behind him. Growling in eager anticipation as it chased its prey. Ulrich came to a sudden halt as he almost slammed face first into a door labeled "office". Kiwi barked and leapt into the air scratching at the metal door with his paws. Ulrich grabbed the door knob, pulled the door open and the three of them rushed inside. He slammed the door behind them and quickly slid the dead bolt into place. Ulrich heard Sissi panting for breath behind him and felt Kiwi against his leg growling at the door. Ulrich reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He pressed a button on the side of it and a small flashlight turned on. He shined the light around the small office looking for the circuit breaker. He spotted it on the wall and walked over to it. He opened the small door and held the cellphone up to the switches. He turned on the one that read Science Building and the one that said Gymnasium.

The lights in the small room flickered on and the office was illuminated by a single yellow light bulb hanging from a cord on the ceiling. Ulrich quickly opened the revolver and ejected the spent shells. He pulled a few extra bullets from his pocket and slipped them into the revolver's cylinder.

"Next time I'm shooting the goddamn lock." He muttered to himself.

Hanging from a hook by the door was a set of keys. Ulrich walked towards them and grabbed them. He examined them and found one labeled "Head master's office.

"Got it." He said pocketing them. "Let's get out of here."

There was a loud thumping noise that made Ulrich and Sissi jump. It was coming from the door. There was another thump and another and another and then a long black blade punctured through the metal of the door. Ulrich jumped back and avoided the blade. There was another bang and the blade pushed in even deeper. Sissi screamed as the door split open and a pale hand reached into the room and groped around. The flesh was muscular and pale. The fingers ended in sharp black nails and the blade was growing out of the top of the wrist. The blade seemed to be made of a black metal that shined wickedly in the light. Another blade punctured the door and began cutting away at the metal.

Ulrich quickly raised the revolver and fired three shots into the door. The thing on the other end screamed in agony and its arms retracted out of the door. It roared again and began slicing at the door with its blades. Ulrich fired two more shots and the thing roared louder. The slashing stopped and Ulrich could hear the sounds of the thing retreating. Ulrich lowered the revolver and stood there listening for any sounds of movement. Sissi removed her fingers from her ears and stood up

"I-Is it gone?" She asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I think so." Ulrich said.

He crept towards the door and peered through one of the many holes the bladed monstrosity had made in the metal. The coast was clear.

"Come on." Ulrich said.

He pushed the door open and spotted a pool of a dark black liquid on the floor in front of the door. He cautiously stepped over the puddle and helped Sissi step over it. Kiwi took a running jump and hopped over the puddle. He sniffed it and growled.

"W-what is that stuff?" Sissi asked looking into it.

"I think it's... blood?" Ulrich said uncertainly.

The surface of the black puddle was reflective and it looked as if Sissi was looking into a black mirror. Her blood turned cold at what she saw. Principal Delmas, her father, was standing before her.

"D-daddy!" Sissi gasped.

Her father looked wrong. His skin was pale and mottled. His eyes were red and glowed slightly like those things outside. Sissi gasped as she saw her father grab her by the throat and tear into her stomach. She screamed as her father pulled her heart from her chest and bit into it.

"Sissi?" Ulrich called.

He was standing by the steps across the room. He looked at Sissi in confusion. Her eyes were wide and wild in fright. She was visibly shaking and her face looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"Sissi? Come on." Ulrich said gently. "We need to get moving."

She nodded and ran up to him. She grabbed his hand and the two of them went up the stairs to the maintenance hallway. They moved quickly and quietly. They exited the gymnasium and quickly made their way back to the administration building.

Ulrich opened the door to the Dean's office. The secretary's desk was empty and there was a smear of blood on the wall behind the desk.

"Come on." Sissi said quickly. "We have to find my dad!"

She darted for the door to the dean's office and pulled open the door.

"Sissi! Wait!" Ulrich warned.

She pulled open the door and ran inside. Standing behind his desk with his back to her was her father.

"Daddy! Come on! We came to-"

He jerked around and growled at her, his eyes infected with rage.

"NO!" Sissi screamed.

He lunged over the table at her, knocking his personal computer and a framed picture off of the table with a crash. Sissi screamed as her father rushed towards her.

"Get away from her!" Ulrich cried.

He kicked the head master in the side and knocked him away. He staggered into filing cabinet with a bang and snarled. He lashed at Ulrich with a clawed hand and ripped a pocket off of Ulrich's jacket. Ulrich caught the headmasters wrist as he readied a second attack. Ulrich lashed out with his machete scraping away a few hunks of flesh from Delmas's face. Delmas roared and slammed his head into Ulrich's causing the boy to stagger backwards. Ulrich saw stars for a second as the Principal grabbed him by the throat and hurled him across the room. Ulrich slammed into an armoir and fell to the ground.

"Daddy stop it!" Sissi begged as she grabbed his arm.

He roared and slammed her away with the back of his hand. She gasped in pain as she slid across the floor and her head slammed into the wall. Principal Delmas roared again and charged at Ulrich with the force of a professional footballer. Ulrich had just gotten back to his feet when he felt the teacher slam into his back. He slammed into the wall and felt his nose break from the impact spilling hot blood down the front of his face. He slumped to his knees and fell to his side.

"W-what... the hell?" Ulrich gasped in pain.

Principal Delmas took a lumbering step towards Ulrich and growled. He raised a clawed hand as he approached the dazed boy, ready to deilver the killing blow. He roared and lunged forward, the only sound that could be heard was that of a wet rip.


	14. Knee Deep in the Dead

Scenario 13: Knee Deep in the Dead

Desmond ran down the street panting for breath. His arms ached from the weight of the jerry cans and his fingers felt as if they were about to fall off. He could hear them behind him, groaning and snarling as they clumsily made their way through the maze of abandoned cars that cluttered the street.

_"Crap, crap, crap!"_ Desmond thought desperately as he ran.

His legs were beginning to feel like Jell-O and threatened to fall beneath him with every step he took. He had no idea where the two American boys had gone. After the fight at the gas station those things showed up out of nowhere, attracted by the sound of battle. Darren had yelled for them to run and Desmond, Kadic's track star, had wasted no time putting distance between himself and the undead monsters behind him. Now Desmond was alone with no weapon and no plan. His mind wandered to a conversation he had had with his friends just the other day. They were sitting at their usual table and talking about a movie they wanted to see. Desmond had a track race that afternoon and he was busy covering his fries in ketchup, paying little to no attention to the banter of his friends.

"Think it'll do the original any justice?" Antony asked.

"Doubt it." Fred said popping a fry into his mouth. "They got the original director and star of the film producing it though so maybe it won't be that bad."

"I looked up the director online last night. This is his first directing gig that isn't a short." Joan said.

"Crap." Fred sighed.

"This series always freaked me out." Blaine said. "The idea of being stuck alone in the middle of nowhere and all of my friends turning into monsters, leaving me alone…"

He shuddered.

"Don't worry Blaine, I'll protect you from the monsters!" Antony said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you'll make a perfect meat shield!" Fred said poking Antony's chubby stomach.

They ate; they talked, laughed and insulted each other's mothers. Desmond won his race that day; leaving his opponents behind him in the dust in a matter of seconds with his friends cheering for him every step of the way. After the race they embraced him and hoisted him in the air on their shoulders. Desmond felt ten feet tall that day. After the race they went out for pizza to celebrate. Desmond felt the cruel, cold knife of irony stab into his heart as he remembered what Blaine said to him that night.

"Desmond doesn't have to outrun the zombies; he just has to outrun us!"

Desmond had done just that. He didn't mean to. He had a nasty habit of doing that. Of going somewhere else when he ran. He couldn't turn it off, it just happened and by the time he was out of the cafeteria it was too late. They were gone and Desmond found himself wishing he wasn't the fastest runner at Kadic.

Sweat and tears streamed down his face as he ran. Ahead of him a zombie staggered out from behind a tow truck. It was dressed in black coveralls and missing its left arm just below the elbow. It licked the bloody flesh around its stump and spotted Desmond ahead of him. It bared its bloody teeth and snarled at the boy. Desmond slid to a stop and cursed. He didn't have the strength the fight the monster. The zombie stumbled towards him with its remaining hand outstretched.

"Aw come on!" Desmond croaked miserably.

This was it. Death by zombie. Desmond let a shuddering breath escape his mouth and he closed his eyes. A bizarre sense of peace washed over him as the zombie closed in. No more pain, no more fear. Maybe he'd see his friends again where he was going. Desmond desperately tried to come up with any final confessions. There had to be something he regretted. He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. Desmond opened his eyes and saw the zombie bare its teeth.

"I should have asked out Joan." Desmond said softly.

Suddenly there was a blur of movement from his right and a blurry figure tackled the zombie. The zombie slammed into a car with a bang Desmond gasped.

"D-Darren!" He cried.

Darren grabbed the zombie by the front of its coveralls and slammed it into another car. The zombie growled as Darren raised his hatchet and brought it down on the zombie's head with a wet crunch. He pulled his weapon free and let the zombie slide to the ground.

"Keep movin'." Darren rasped his throat sounding as dry as Desmonds. "It's clear up ahead."

Desmond nodded and took off running before the pain in his legs could stop him. The road ahead of him was indeed clear of any infected. Corpses with severed heads and bashed in skulls littered the ground like a macabre trail of safety.

_"Follow the blood covered road." _Desmond thought.

Occasionally Desmond would catch a glimpse of Darren and Chris and he felt his stomach clench at the brutal efficiency the boys displayed. Darren buried his hatchet into a zombie's jaw and pulled the weapon free before kicking the zombie into Chris's direction. Chris swung his bat and sent the zombie's head rolling along the ground. Darren delivered a powerful right hook and knocked a zombie flat on its back. Chris brought his bat down on the zombie's skull and crushed it like a watermelon at a Gallagher show. Desmond silently thanked God for rednecks and followed the two boys as they carved a path of death back to the school.

"We gotta warn the others." Darren said pulling his hatchet from a sprinter's chest. "We're gonna have company."

Desmond nodded and ignored the fact he didn't have limitless stamina. He gritted his teeth and pushed. His legs felt like they were going to explode. The three boys ran through the side gate of Kadic and sprinted across the soccer field, making it to the garage without any interference from the undead. Chris pulled the door up and a second later Desmond ran inside with Darren right behind him. Chris stepped into the garage after them and lowered the door as quietly as he could. Chris peeled off his mask and fell onto the cold concrete floor of the garage in a pant. Darren leaned against a wall for support and pulled his mask off as well. In the center of the room Desmond was on his knees gasping for air. He released his grip on the jerry cans and flexed his fingers in pain. The three boys were soaked in sweat and blood, their clothes stuck to their bodies. Desmond sighed in despair as warmth spread through his pants as he pissed himself. He didn't care. He felt he had earned it after having run the hundred yard sprint through hell. He was just glad he had worn his black jogging pants that day.

"That fuckin' sucked." Chris moaned.

Darren nodded in silent agreement and glanced up. He quickly pushed himself off of the wall and staggered across the room. He grabbed a coffee cup off of the teacher's desk and dumped the pencils and pens it held onto the floor. He stumbled over to a greasy sink on the wall and turned the knob silently praying that the sink wasn't just for show. There was a rumbling sound and cold water sputtered out of the faucet. Darren held the cup under the water and filled it up to the brim. He drank it down greedily as Chris looked up at the sound of running water and jumped up to his feet. He made his way to the sink and shoved Darren out of the way. Chris stuck his head under the water and let it run over his head. He flipped his hair back with a pleasured moan as if he had been baptized in holy water. Darren refilled the cup and knelt down next to Desmond. He tiled the cup into Desmond's mouth that drank it down gratefully.

"Thanks." Desmond croaked.

He rearranged himself into a sitting position with his back against the bus for support. He took the cup from Darren who went back to the sink and took a page from Chris's book. Desmond drained the coffee cup and immediately regretted it. Chris motioned for the cup and Desmond handed it to him.

"Just bring me the sink!" Desmond called as Chris filled the cup with water.

"How many ya think there were?" Chris asked handing the cup back to Desmond.

"Too fuckin' many." Darren said wiping water from his face.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do?" Chris asked. "Those things'll be here soon and then we'll be up to our tits in shufflers! Again!"

"Get the gas into the bus. I'll radio the others." Darren said.

Ulrich covered his head in his hands and waited for the end to come. He had died before on Lyoko but that was never that big of a deal. A monster would catch him off guard and blast him with a laser or William would cleave into him with that horse cutter of his but either way the sensation was more or less painless. Numbness like a limb falling asleep would spread through his body as he devirtualized and the next thing he knew he was back on earth feeling like he had stepped out of a microwave. Ulrich wasn't counting on dying on earth being as painless or as quick especially when his cause of death was mutilation by zombie.

Ulrich had heard that in ones time of dying their life would flash before their eyes. He learned that wasn't exactly true. He didn't see everything. Just glimpses of the things he loved the most. He saw his friends and to a much lesser degree his family. He saw the birthday when he got the sword from his parent's, the same sword he was letting Terry use. He saw Odd sitting in the cafeteria gorging on pancakes and making bad jokes. Jeremie showed him a computer game and smiled proudly at the look on Ulrich's face when he told him he had programmed it himself. Aelita was sitting at the piano in the music room playing a piece of classical music and randomly switching to something more modern in a heartbeat, before effortlessly switching back to Mozart or Chopin. Yumi smiled at him from across the room. Ulrich felt tears run down his cheeks. Time seemed to slow down around him. Delmas's footsteps thundered on the hardwood floor. The end was coming. Death was at his door.

_"I'm so sorry everyone!"_ He thought.

There was a wet ripping sound and Ulrich flinched violently. A few seconds passed but Ulrich didn't feel the cold, grey hands of death tear into his body. Ulrich moved his had away from his eyes and looked up. Delmas was standing over him and the blade of Ulrich's machete was sticking out of his chest. Dark red blood oozed from the wound and trickled down his shirt. Ulrich was confused for a second before he realized what had happened.

"I'm sorry." Sissi gasped from behind her father.

Delmas growled weakly and fell to his knees in front of Ulrich. Sissi kept a tight grip on the machete and the blade slid out of her father's torso with a wet squelch.

"I'm sorry!" She said again as she raised the machete in trembling hands.

She swung the machete as hard as she could and buried the blade into her father's neck. Ulrich's eyes widened in fear as Principal Delmas choked on his own blood. Delmas craned his neck backwards and looked back at his daughter. His mouth moved slightly but no sound escaped his lips other than a wet gurgle.

"I'm sorry!"

She pulled the machete free and swung again and again as she desperately hacked through flesh and muscle and bone. Ulrich watched in silent horror as Delmas's head finally rolled off his shoulders and bounced on the floor like a soccer ball. Delmas's headless body fell to the floor with a thud and Sissi dropped the machete. She fell to her knees and covered her face with her bloody hands.

"D-don't get up!" She wailed. "PLEASE DON'T GET UP!"

Ulrich slumped against the wall unable to move, his eyes glued to the insanely fucked up scene in front of him. Sissi was covered in her father's blood and her body was shaking in sobs. Delmas's head stared at Ulrich from where it had landed his eyes devoid of life and his bloody mouth was twisted in a sad, almost mournful way. He suddenly looked human and Ulrich felt like he was going to be sick. Trembling Ulrich rose to his feet and picked up his machete from the floor. Sissi was still sobbing into her hands and Ulrich couldn't think anything to say to her. What could he possibly say to her to make this okay? Her father was dead, murdered in his own office by his baby girl. She had brutally decapitated him with a machete. She had saved Ulrich's life.

"T-thank… you." Ulrich said.

She didn't seem to hear him. She kept crying. Ulrich looked up and spotted the picture frame that Delmas had knocked off of his desk. Ulrich picked it up and numbly stared at the picture behind the broken glass. Sissi was grinning from ear to ear and holding a large stuffed moose in her arms. Her father stood next to her and he was wearing a goofy looking hat with a moose sewn onto the cap and he was blushing slightly. They looked so happy together. It was impossible to believe the fate that awaited them. Ulrich wanted to pretend that the people in the photo were alive and well somewhere else, that they were safe and happy together. Not decapitated and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Ulrich shook the glass out of the frame and pulled the picture out. He knelt down next to Sissi and held the picture out to her.

"Non Omnis Moriar." Ulrich said.

Sissi looked up at him like she had forgotten he was there.

"W-what?" She asked.

"Non omnis moriar." He repeated. "From English class last week remember? It means "I will not die completely" or something like that. Your father loved you so much Sissi. Don't let that"- he motioned to the headless body- "be your last memory of him. You're a part of him. He will never leave you completely as long as you remember him and love him even when he's gone."

He pressed the picture into Sissi's hands.

"He will never leave you." He said.

Sissi looked down at the picture and made a choking sound. Her shoulders shook with fresh sobs and she fell forward into Ulrich's arms. She sobbed into his shirt and Ulrich gently (awkwardly) wrapped his arms around her body.

"It's okay." He said. "It's going to be okay."

Suddenly Ulrich felt her lips press against his. He felt a shock surge through his body and he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't kiss her back and after a few seconds of this awkward embrace Sissi's grip on his arm loosened and she pulled away from him. Her eyes gazed down at her father's picture.

"S-sissi." Ulrich said. "We uh, we have to go. It isn't safe here."

Sissi didn't say anything. Still not looking at Ulrich she let him take her hand and lead her out of the office and back out into the hallway. In the shadows ahead of them he could see Kiwi sitting on the floor waiting for them. The dog had a grim expression on its face that reminded Ulrich of pity. Ulrich and Kiwi stared at each other for a while. Kiwi whimpered and walked up to Sissi. He lowered his head onto her foot and whinnied sadly.

"You know when someone's hurting don't you boy?" Ulrich thought.

Suddenly Kiwi's ears perked up. He stood and turned around peering intently into the darkness of the administration building's lobby.

"What is it boy?" Ulrich asked.

It was a rhetoric question but Ulrich received an answer anyway. There was a soft click and Ulrich was blinded by a bright light. He flinched and raised his free hand over his eyes.

"There he is!" Desmond said. "Hey! Ulrich!"

"Smart dog." Chris muttered. "Ugly little shit though."

Ulrich lowered his hand and saw Desmond, Darren and Chris standing in the lobby. Kiwi was between the two groups and wagging his tail happily.

"We found him outside." Desmond said. "He got our attention and led us to you!"

"You look like shit Stern." Darren said.

His gaze was burning into Ulrich's and his hand was positioned over his pistol ready to draw. Ulrich scoffed in annoyance and felt his grip tighten on his machete.

"We're fine!" Ulrich said. "We just ran into some trouble."

"Where's Delmas?" Desmond asked.

Ulrich felt his stomach turn. Sissi's grip tightened in his hand and he could feel her body quivering next to him.

"H-h-h-he-" Sissi choked.

"Come on." Darren interrupted. "There's been a change of plans. We got a whole damned horde of those monsters on its way here and they'll be here any minute now."

Ulrich nodded, grateful for Darren's intervention. He pulled Sissi behind him and they made their way through the schoolyard of Kadic. Most of the infected were dead by now or spread far enough around the schoolyard that they didn't pose an immediate threat. They had entered the classroom building and had almost made it to the stairwell when Darren held up a hand to stop them.

"Listen!" He said quietly.

There was a clattering noise echoing through the halls followed by a hissing.

"What is that?" Desmond asked.

Footsteps.

"Get in that classroom! Hide!" Darren whispered.

They ran into a classroom and Desmond quietly closed the door behind him. Ulrich grabbed Sissi and ducked behind the teacher's desk while Darren hid behind the door. Desmond rolled under a long computer desk while Chris turned around and around looking for a hiding spot. He started to duck under a student's desk but he was too big. There was a supply closet in the back of the room that was cluttered with old text books and other supplies and again, Chris was too big.

"God damn it Chris!" Darren hissed through clenched teeth.

"Fuck you!" Chris whispered back.

"Fuck you sasquatch! Get your hulkin' ass outta sight or I will _destroy_ you!" Darren snarled.

Chris flipped Darren the bird and the door knob began to jiggle. Chris cursed under his breath and spotted an open window. He ran and dove through the window as the door opened behind him. The overwhelming scent of cigarettes, cheap booze, garbage, and axe body spray entered the room, pouring off of a lanky figure in almost visible stench vapors.

_"Burner." _Darren thought.

The teacher's lounge was in a state of disarray as the students scampered around jamming everything they could into the handful of bags they had with them. The last of the food and water, the ammo and what few makeshift weapons they had. Jeremie zipped up the bag with his laptop in it and sighed.

"Where are you guys?" He thought.

He glanced down at the radio and thought about checking on them. No, not now. Darren said to maintain radio silence, that he would call them if they needed back up. No sense in giving away their position. After they returned with the gas Darren said that they had got into a fight with some thugs and that the infected were attracted to their location by the sound of the fight. They were followed by the infected back to the school and soon they would be overrun again. They had to leave the school **now**. Jeremie looked around the room and felt his heart sink into his chest.

"Aelita?" He asked. "Where's Aelita?!"

"Here I am!" She said dashing into the room. "I remembered there is an extra first aid kit in the biology lab."

She placed the first aid kit on the table, opened it and began rummaging through its contents.

"Don't wander off like that again!" Jeremie said angrily. "What if something happened?"

"I'm fine Jeremie it was just down the hall." Aelita said closing the first aid kit.

"Look at me!" Jeremie said pulling her around to face him.

Aelita began to snap at Jeremie but stopped when she saw the look of fear and concern on Jeremie's face. She realized she had just done something truly horrible to her boyfriend and immediately regretted it.

"Please don't do that again!" Jeremie begged. "Not without telling me where you're going at the very least!"

Aelita smiled softly and kissed Jeremie on the cheek.

"I won't." She said hugging him. "I promise."

"Guys?" Tina called from the doorway. "You're gonna want to see this."

She led them upstairs to the roof. She pointed to the schoolyard below and Jeremie looked through the telescope.

"Those aren't zombies." He said.

"Then what is it?" Aelita asked.

"It's them." Yumi said. "The burners!"

He body was visibly shaking. Her grip on her katana was so tight the flesh on her knuckles turned white. She remembered fighting them before getting to the school. She remembered killing.

"Come on." Jeremie said. "We have to warn the others."

Down stairs the burner was wearing a red hoodie and a black ski mask. He held a long knife in one hand and a can of spray paint in the other. He wandered around the room singing a rap song to himself in broken English. He shook the spray can up and began spraying red paint all over the walls. He snickered to himself as he worked, spraying obscenities and crude pictures of dicks all over the wall until the can was empty. He spit on the floor, tossed the empty can away, and wandered over to the corner. Desmond held his breath as the burner walked past his desk. The burner unzipped his fly and began to piss into the storage closet that Chris had left open.

"Vous aimez ce ne salope pas?" He muttered as he peed on the cover of a book with a young girl's face on it.

Ulrich's radio crackled. Jeremie's voice came through the speaker, unforgivably loud in the silent classroom.

"Ulrich! There are burners in the school and-"

"Shit!" Darren muttered.

The burner whirled around, his dick in one hand and his knife in the other. Darren burst out from behind the open door and charged at the burner with his hatchet.

"Fuck!" The burner cried.

Darren brought the hatchet down but missed as the burner stepped out of the way. The hatchet blade buried into the table next to the burner and the burner lashed out with his knife, slicing Darren's arm. The burner's pants fell down the rest of the way and Darren stumbled back clutching his wound. Chris popped his head up and whistled. The burner looked up and a brick hit him in the face. He screamed in pain as blood gushed from his nose and he slid to the floor. Darren pulled his hatchet out of the table and brought it down on the burner's skull. The burner's body convulsed and Darren pulled the hatchet out and buried it in the burner's head again.

"He's down." Darren gasped.

Chris pulled himself into the classroom and jogged over to Darren.

"You okay?" He asked. "Shit man."

"I'm fine." Darren said taking a bandana from Chris and tying it around his arm.

"Jesus." Desmond said looking down at the burner.

Darren unclipped the radio from his belt and held it to his mouth.

"What part of radio silence do you not understand?" He snarled.

"What happened? I heard a struggle." Jeremie asked.

"Apparently there are burners in the school Jeremie." Darren said sarcastically.

"We're fine Jeremie." Ulrich said. "Just make sure everyone's ready to go!"

"Fuckin' idiot!" Darren muttered picking up the burner's knife.

"Did you hear what he was singin'?" Chris asked.

"Yeah." Darren nodded. "It would be fuckin' ICP. Check the hallway. Make sure there ain't any more of 'em."

Chris moved over to the door and peeked outside.

"S'clear." He said after a pause.

"Let's get movin'" Darren said.

They left the classroom and quietly moved down the hall with Darren and Chris taking point. As they neared the stairwell they heard the sound of hushed voices coming from around the corner up ahead. A red flashlight beam lit up the dark hallway and the voices came closer.

"Shit. At least two more." Chris said.

"Hide." Darren said.

Everyone ducked behind lockers and in doorways. Darren crouched behind a garbage can and Chris hid behind the door that led to the stairs. A zombie stumbled out of a classroom and the burners laughed at it.

"Hey verifier cette merde!" A burner said.

The zombie made eye contact with Darren and moaned, raising a hand towards him. There was a hissing sound and a jet of flames spread out and lit up the hallway and the zombie. The burner's laughter echoed down the hallway as the flaming zombie fell to the ground.

"Putain genial!" The second burner exclaimed.

The second burner walked up the zombie and raised an axe in the air. He brought it down on the zombie's neck and chopped off its head.

"Four!"

The burner hit the zombies head with the flat side of his axe and sent the flaming head flying down the hallway. It soared through the air like a fire ball and rolled across the ground, making it all the way back to the end of the hall before stopping as it bumped into the door. The burners cheered.

Chris looked over to Darren and nudged his head towards the burner's direction. Darren held up a hand and began making gestures with his hand and fingers. Chris nodded and readied his weapon.

The burners high fived and each pulled out a crudely wrapped blunt. They let them off of the burning corpse and began walking down the hall.

"Hey Skunk! Ou avez-vous aller?" A burner called.

They wandered down the hall smoking and talking. Ulrich flattened himself against the wall behind the locker as much as he could. Darren readied his knife and hatchet and Chris slipped out from behind the door as the burners walked by.

Darren struck first.

He jammed the knife into the burner with the axe's side and twisted it. The burner screamed and the second one jumped back in alarm. He cursed and raised a can of spray paint and a lighter ready to immolate both friend and foe. Chris brought his bat down around the burner's throat and pulled him backwards. The burner gagged and dropped his weapons, choking and struggling against Chris's superior mass. Darren's burner shoved him away and raised his axe to fight. The two stared each other down for a moment before the burner raised his axe and charged. Darren raised his hatchet and stopped the axe just under the head. He jerked his hand back and disarmed the burner, letting the axe fall to the floor with a clatter. Before the burner cold react Darren had slipped behind him and kicked out the back of the burner's knee with his foot. The burner fell backwards with a gasp and screamed as Darren grabbed his hair, pulled his head back and plunged his knife into his heart. The remaining burner's face had turned an ugly shade of purple and his arms went limp. Chris released his grip on the burner and he fell to the ground.

"Where did you guys learn to fight like that?" Desmond asked nervously. "Seriously you guys fight like commandos!"

"It's called Okichitaw. It's a Native American martial arts style. My dad taught me." Darren said.

"And what was-" He began moving his hand around randomly.

"Sign language." Chris muttered.

"What, are you part of some kind of teenage super-secret anti zombie slash gangbanger task force or something?" Desmond asked.

"Yeah Desmond that's exactly what we are." Chris sighed sarcastically.

Ulrich looked down at the dead burners and felt a little sick. Killing the zombies, the infected was one thing but these two were people; the man back in the classroom was a person. If he and his friends survived in this world what were they going to become? He thought of Yumi and that vacant look in her eye when they were sitting in the teacher's lounge. He wanted to see her. He started to say that they needed to keep moving but something caught his eye. It was the graffiti that the burners had been tagging on the walls of the school.

"No way." He said softly. "It's impossible."

Desmond stepped next to him.

"Ulrich? Let's go man."

He looked at the graffiti on the wall.

"It's just some gang sign, what's gotten into you? Let's go!"

He grabbed Ulrich's shoulder and pulled him away, the blood red eye of Xana watched them as the children climbed the stairs.

"Pack your bags kids the school bus is leaving in five!" Chris said as they entered the lounge.

"KIWI!" Odd exclaimed.

Romantic music began to play as Odd skipped towards Kiwi through a field of roses and dog treats. Kiwi barked happily and ran towards Odd. Kiwi jumped into the air and Odd caught him in his arms.

"Kiwi!" Odd cried clinging to his little diggity dog.

Kiwi licked his master's face barking yelping in joy.

"Jeremie!" Ulrich said slamming the door shut behind him and jerking Odd out of his day dream. "We have to talk!"

"It can wait Stern." Darren said. "We have to leave now!"

"No it can't!" Ulrich snapped. "Just- Just get everything together! We'll be right behind you!"

"In five minutes we are leaving this god forsaken school. If you and your fuckin' friends aren't on that bus you can hitchhike outta this damn city got it?" Darren said.

Ulrich glared at him and grabbed Jeremie's arm.

"Come on!" He said to the others.

The others exchanged uneasy looks and followed Ulrich out of the lounge.

"Here you go boy, go to mommy." Odd said handing Kiwi to Sam. "We'll be right back Sam. Just make sure all of the food is packed 'kay?"

Ulrich glared at William and nudged his head towards the door. Ulrich led them all to the roof and began pacing the roof top angrily.

"Ulrich calm down!" Yumi said. "What's this all about? We have to get out of here!"

"It's Xana!" Ulrich all but yelled at his friends.

"What?!" Jeremie exclaimed. "What are you-"

"Those burners down in the classrooms? They were tagging the walls with the eye of Xana!" Ulrich said.

"What?! That's impossible!" Aelita cried.

"It's true!"

"No way." William said. "That's impossible! You must be mistaken!"

"I saw it with my own eyes! They were tagging all over the school and they were searching for something, clearing the rooms! They were looking for us! Xana is behind this I know it!"

"Ulrich that's impossible." Yumi said. "Xana's been gone for months now, months!"

"Is it though?!" Ulrich asked. "What if he survived somehow and he's just been biding his time, waiting to strike back! Jeremie?!"

Jeremie was silent. He sighed, removed his glasses and rubbed the fatigue from his eyes with his other hand.

"I- I guess it's possible. Not very likely but anything is possible." Jeremie said looking at Aelita. "But I scanned and scanned and scanned for days after our final encounter with him. Weeks and nothing came up on the scanner. As far as I can tell Xana is gone."

"But what if he isn't?" Ulrich asked. "If Xana is behind all of this then we can stop him! We just have to go to Lyoko and check! We could stop all of this!"

"No. No we can't. Not really." Jeremie said. "Even if, and I mean if, Xana survived. If he somehow managed to cause a zombie apocalypse-"

"He did it before." Odd muttered.

"If he is the cause of all of this and we stop him and launch a return to the past then everyone who has died…"

"They won't come back." Yumi said softly.

"It's better than being surrounded by flesh eating ghouls and pyromaniacs!" Ulrich argued. "All that I'm asking is that we check! It's the only lead we have!"

"How do you propose we get to the factory?" Jeremie asked. "We could never make it on foot and the forest is filled with those things. There are burners in the city and what if there are more of those things like Jim out there?"

"Don't even say that." Odd shuddered.

"The sewer!" Ulrich said. "We can get there through the sewer by the boiler room!"

Jeremie thought this over.

"We don't know what's down there." He said shaking his head. "You said something forced its way into the school from down there. Did you find out what it was?"

"It-it was…" Ulrich remembered the bladed horror from the boiler room. "It was something new. It had blades on its hands and climbed all over the ceiling. I shot it with the gun but it didn't die. I… I don't know where it is now…"

The wind picked up and carried with it the scent of rotted flesh. Ulrich shuddered from the cold and the knowledge that thing was still out there.

"Can we get going please?" Odd said nervously.

"I am not leaving until we check out the factory. If you guys want out then I'll go alone!" Ulrich said angrily.

"You won't be alone." William said. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too." Yumi said. "It may not bring the dead back but maybe my parents can be saved. They weren't… like that. They were sick. Just sick."

"What we're talking about doing, we'll be one our own. The others are going to be leaving and if we aren't on that bus…" Jeremie said.

"We've always been on our own. We know what's at stake and what we'll lose if we fail. Nothing's changed Jeremie." Ulrich said.

Jeremie nodded solemnly at Ulrich

"So what do we do?" William asked. "We can't exactly tell them what we're up to."

"We don't tell them anything." Ulrich said. "We just leave. They go for the bus we go for the boiler room. Get to the sewers and then make for the factory. It's not like we owe them an explanation."

"So then we just up and leave?" Yumi asked. "Ulrich you saved most of those people's lives. You can't just abandon them like that it's cruel!"

"We'll get there as far as the bus but then they're on their own." Ulrich said.

The door behind them opened and Tina stuck her head out.

"Guys." She said. "Darren wasn't fucking kidding. We are leaving _now!_"

The door slammed shut.

Ulrich turned to his friends and sighed.

"Let's get moving." He said.

They quickly followed Tina down the steps and out into the hallway. Everyone had left the lounge and they were waiting in the hallway armed with the few weapons they had. Darren and Chris were checking their guns and they each had a heavy duffle bag slung over their shoulder.

"Ready?" Darren asked tucking his Glock away.

"Yeah." Ulrich said.

"Let's get the fuck outta here bitches." Chris said.

With that send-off they made their way to the ground floor. When they reached the exit that led outside Darren and Chris took positions by the doors.

"On three." Ulrich said readying his machete.

"Three." Darren and Chris said together.

They pushed open the doors and Ulrich and Terry jumped outside. A walker growled at them and Terry impaled it through the eye with his sword. He kicked it away and twirled the sword as Ulrich buried his machete into the other walker's skull. He pulled the blade out and the zombie dropped to the ground.

"Clear!" Ulrich said.

"Not quite." Sam said stringing an arrow.

She let the arrow go and sent it through the heart of a sprinter that had started to rush towards the group. It fell to its knees and rolled across the ground. Terry sliced the zombie's head off with an elaborate slash of his sword and tugged the arrow out of the zombie's chest. He spun the arrow in his fingers and handed it back to Sam.

"Here you go." He said casually.

Sam rolled her eyes and took the arrow. Terry strutted away spinning his sword around and Ulrich called back to him "Don't wander off from the rest of the group!"

"Come on!" Terry said with a laugh. "These things are slow-"

She cut a zombie's leg off at the knee and it fell to the ground before properly recognizing Terry's presence.

"Stupid-"

He cut off another zombies arm.

"And weak as hell!"

He cut off another zombie's head.

"Come on slowpokes!" He called back.

"That mother fucking piece of fucking shit if going to get us all fucking killed!" Chris growled.

They quickly followed Terry around the corner of the building but stopped in their tracks. They could hear bad rap music. It was playing out of a boom box on the back of a pick-up truck. Sitting in the back of the bed of the truck were four burners. Next to the pick-up truck was a delivery van with "Pussy Wagon" spray painted on the side of it in red paint. Dancing on top of the delivery van was a half-naked woman with a bottle of cheap booze in one hand and a glass pipe in the other.

"Looks like a party." Terry said. "How come we weren't invited?"

"Classy." Desmond said with his tongue poking a hole in his cheek.

"You guys want to go?!" Terry called out marching towards the burners.

"Terry you dumb son of a bitch." Chris said in disbelief.

"Terry stop!" Ulrich said. "Don't-"

Terry ignored his classmate and stopped about fifteen feet from the vehicles. He held his sword in front of him and began twirling his sword around his body. The burners stared at the child in bewilderment. Suddenly a horrible realization struck Ulrich. Terry was good with swords in the sense that he knew all of the choreography that martial artist in the movies knew which in a real fight was next to useless. It looked fancy if not a little flamboyant but on the battle field that meant absolutely nothing.

"Okay you fucking crack heads!" Terry said pointing to them. "Imma take you out, Imma take you out, Imma take you out, Imma take you out-"

A few more burners stuck their heads out of the delivery van.

"Imma take ya'll out." Terry said pointing to them. "Imma-"

A burner reached behind him and pulled out a large revolver.

"I-Imma-"

The burner pulled the trigger and a bullet blew out the back of Terry's head.

"No! Oh god!" Emilie screamed in horror and the burners just laughed as Terry fell to the ground.

The burner with the gun fired two more shots into Terry's body as the others laughed. He blew on the barrel of his pistol and spun it around his finger before sliding it down his leg, pantomiming a holster.

"Oh look more kiddies!" A burner said standing up in the back of the truck.

"Oh I like me a red head!" Another burner said getting out of the truck and licking his lips at Tania.

"Let's get'em!" Another yelled brandishing a machine pistol.

"Bleachers!" Darren yelled.

The group ran as the burners opened fire on them. They ran under the metal bleachers by the soccer field and Chris yelled for everyone to keep their heads down.

"What do we do now?" Milly and Tamia wailed.

"I said keep your goddamn head down! Do you wanna die?" Chris roared. "Stay low and be ready to return fire on my mark!"

"Negative Bravo 2." Darren said.

"What?!" Chris cried as a bullet ricocheted over his head.

"I said belay that Bravo 2!" Darren yelled back.

"Come on you mother fucker don't give'em any special treatment." Darren said under his breath.

Everyone stayed down on the ground until the gunfire finally ended.

"You guys dead yet? Huh?!" A burner yelled.

"Fucking pussies! Hiding like a bunch of little bi-"

There was a thundering roar and Darren smiled to himself.

"Soup's on." Chris said sharing the grin.

Jim burst through the trees and charged at the burners roaring like a rampaging rhinoceros.

"FUCK!" A burner screamed.

Ulrich looked up through a divide in the bleachers just as Jim rammed into the pick-up truck. The burners screamed and jumped off of the truck as it flipped over onto its side. A burner rolled over in the grass and tried to shield himself with his hands as Jim brought his foot down on the burner's skull. Jim then grabbed the burner gutter slut by her leg and pulled her off of the top of the van. She screamed and flailed and kicked as Jim slammed her into the overturned truck over and over again, spraying blood all over the other burners.

"You fucking piece of shit!" A burner cried slamming a magazine into his pistol.

He raised the gun and fired two shots into Jim's back. Jim growled, turned around and batted the burner away with the back of his hand sending the delinquent flying through the air. The burner slammed into the class room building and slid down the brick wall and landed behind the bleachers with a wet squelch.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Tina gasped.

"Fuck this shit yo!" A burner yelled jumping into the back of the van as it peeled away.

Jim dropped the mangled hunk of flesh that was once a "woman" and chased after the van as it drove away from the soccer field.

"Go now! Now!" Darren said rising to his feet.

They ran out of the bleachers and made for the garage. They had gotten half way across the field before a horrifying and familiar shriek echoed through the air.

"Give us a fuckin' break!" Chris roared over the sound.

"Go go go!" Darren said readying his Glock. "Get to the garage!"

"This is going to suck!" Odd moaned raising his own pistol.

They ran across the field as those things broke out of the trees all around them. There were dozens of them, as if they all knew to convene at this location. Ulrich drew his revolver and scooped up his sword as he ran past Terry's corpse.

"Sorry man." He said breathlessly.

Up ahead several of the undead burst through the trees behind and around the garage.

"Light'em up!" Darren yelled.

They opened fire. A shambler took a blast of buckshot in the shoulder and stumbled backwards before William fired his second barrel into its forehead. Odd fired a round into a sprinter's throat and dropped it to the ground. He fired another shot at a shambler but missed the sweet spot, only managing to graze its shoulder. He cursed and fired again this time imagining the eye of Xana on its forehead, like on Lyoko. The bullet entered its eye socket and exited out the back, striking another shambler behind it in the chin.

"Ha! Nice." He said.

Ulrich lined up a shot and fired a round into a zombie's forehead just above its right eyebrow. Another round went into a zombie's nose and a third went into a zombie's cheek. Darren and Chris took careful, well aimed shots and brought down an infected with every pull of the trigger. Milly and Tamia screamed and covered their ears, sobbing as the air around them filled with the sounds of moans, shrieks, and gunshots. Tania ran the tip of her spear into a zombie's eye socket and pushed it her weight into it to knock it to the ground. Thomas decapitated a shambler with his axe and Desmond cleaved another zombie's head in half. Yumi eviscerated a sprinter with her sword and cut the top of its head off with a powerful swipe of her katana. Sam was careful with her arrows, or rather arrow. She waited until a walker got close enough to her before firing her arrow and then snatching it back out of the zombie's head as it fell to the ground.

The survivors were killing but they kept coming. For every single kill they got another would just take its place. Disturbed, Ulrich was reminded of the story of the Hydra. For each head Hercules cut from its body, two more would grow in its place. The zombies were proving to be just as persistent. Crawling from the darkness like it was the mouth of hell, their numbers infinite and their vigor untiring. Ulrich frantically tried to remember how the battle between Hercules and the Hydra ended. He immediately thought of the Disney cartoon. Hercules got swallowed didn't he? Yes, the monster gobbled him up and Hercules cut his way out with his sword. But you won't get to do that Ulrich. Nope. We'll eat you up piece by piece, mouthful by mouthful until there's nothing left. We'll eat momma and poppa and all of your friends and then you'll be inside us forever. Hundreds of heads and hundreds of eyes. No focus! How did the story go? Hercules cut off their heads and to keep them from growing back he used-

"Fire!" Ulrich said. "Flares! They're afraid of fire!"

Darren and Chris heard him and Chris pulled two flares from his pocket. Chris threw one to Darren and both boys lit the flares. The effect was almost instant. They survivors were bathed in the harsh red light of the flares and the infected snarled and stumbled away from them as if they were emanating the very light of god.

"Move! We only have a few minutes!" Darren yelled.

Chris and Darren brandished their flares in front of them and kept the undead at bay as Desmond pulled open the garage door.

"Four minutes!" Darren yelled waving his flare in front of him.

A sprinter snarled angrily and stepped away from Darren.

"Everyone in the bus now!" Ulrich said. "Go!"

"How many of these do you have left?" Darren asked Chris.

"Just one." Chris replied.

"Ammo?" Darren asked.

"Pistols empty." Chris said. "Two shells in the shoty. You?"

"Two in the mag, one in the pipe." Darren said.

"Everyone's on the bus!" Aelita yelled as the engine roared to life.

"You go! I'll cover you!" Darren said.

Chris lowered his flare to the ground, keeping his sawed off shotgun trained on a sprinter that looked like it was almost over its fear of fire.

"Yo! Come the fuck on!" Chris said to Ulrich as he stepped by him and onto the bus. "What the fuck are you guys doing?"

"We aren't going." Ulrich said.

"What?!" Milly cried. "Ulrich no!"

"Come with us!" Tamia pleaded.

"We can't girls there's something we have to do." Yumi said.

"Please don't leave us!" Milly wailed reaching though the window of the bus and grabbing Aelita's hand.

"Milly!" Aelita said feeling her heart break.

"One minute!" Darren said seeing his flare start to sputter.

"Either shit or get off the pot!" Chris yelled.

"Come on!" Ulrich said.

"This bus isn't going to be waitin' for you guys on the corner Stern!" Darren yelled.

"We know what we're doing! We're staying here!" Ulrich said.

"Please no!" Milly sobbed. "Please please please!"

"Let go!" Aelita snapped jerking her hand away. She rubbed tears from her eyes and stepped away from the bus.

"You guys are crazy! We are leaving right now!" Herb yelled.

"Ulrich you can't go!" Sissi cried from inside the bus.

"We have to Sissi. I can't explain it right now but it's something we have to do!" Ulrich said.

"Ulrich!" She argued.

"Sissi do you trust me?" Ulrich asked.

"W-what?"

"I said do you trust me?! With every damned thing we have been through in the past day do you trust me?!" Ulrich asked.

"Y-yes. I do." Sissi said.

"Then shut the hell up and do as I say!" Ulrich said.

"Odd what the hell are you talking about?! Get on this fucking bus!" Sam said angrily.

"Can't do that right now baby." Odd said. "We'll meet up later but for now go with them where it's safe."

"Odd!"

"Take care of Kiwi and remember he only needs to eat twice a day and maybe a light snack if he's been exercising."

"Odd I swear to GOD I will throw this mutt to the zombies if you aren't on this bus in the next five seconds!" Sam said holding Kiwi by the back of his neck.

Kiwi whimpered.

"No you won't." Odd said simply. "You threaten to feed him to something all the time! That threat has lost all impact on me."

"God damn it people!" Chris said.

The zombies had gathered in front of the garage and were standing shoulder to shoulder, patiently waiting for the light to go out. Chris spotted something on a shelf and quickly jumped out of the bus. He grabbed a container off of the floor, opened it and began shaking it at the zombies, coating them all in a layer of-

"OIL!" Chris shouted.

Darren tossed his flare and it hit a zombie in the chest just as it flickered out. The zombie burst into flames and shrieked loudly as the fire spread to its undead kin.

"Good luck." Darren said stepping into the school bus.

The doors closed and Desmond floored the accelerator. The bus mowed through the cluster of flaming zombies and sped away, leaving the Lyoko warriors alone in the garage.

**AN: I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to be put up but I honestly had no real idea where I was going. I was stuck on this one thought for so long before I decided to take the story in another direction and blah blah blah excuses, shut up and start on the next chapter you fat bastard, etc etc. I want to say the next chapter won't take as long but I don't honestly know. I want to participate in the NNWM thing so this story might get another chapter or two before going on hiatus again in November. Anyway I hope this chapter made up for the long wait. Don't forget to leave a review, that's what keeps me from losing interest.**


End file.
